This one is going to be a slow/burn Rose/Christian which may increase in rating in the future. I should be updating regularly. It's not all planned out yet, but I'm expecting chapters of about 1,000-3,000 and 25+ chapters.

ONE

Rose

Rose had been waiting for this day since returning to St. Vlad's. It was the best part of the year, everyone knew it, and not even everything that had happened since her return was going to put a damper on it.

Being Lissa's guardian was all she had now, and finally, she was going to get a taste of the reality.

The field experience wasn't really anything like what being a guardian would be like. Living in Portland had been more realistic than the field experience could ever be, but she'd been young and naive then. She'd thought she was better than she was.

Spokane had taught her otherwise. She'd never be good enough that she didn't have more to learn, and the field experience was part of that learning.

Lissa deserved the best, and Rose was determined to get as close to that as possible.

She and Eddie sat side by side in the gym, the silence almost comfortable between them. Nothing felt quite comfortable since Mason, and they were all still adjusting to him not being there anymore.

Alberta got to the front and cleared her throat. She didn't need a microphone, everyone was immediately silent.

She gave her speech about the field experience and its importance, and then the names started being read.

"Eddie Castile, you have been assigned Vasilisa Dragomir."

Rose almost stood up. She almost stood up and shouted something obscene, though it would have gotten her nowhere.

Eddie gave her a worried look from her side, and she ignored him.

This was supposed to be her training, where she and Lissa reminded each other how it felt to be constantly in each other's company. Where she honed her ability not just to fight, but to always be alert, to remember that spotting the bad guy approaching was half the battle, not just being able to attack him when he got there.

And they'd taken it away from her. She was going to be with a random Moroi, where her bond would be useless, where it wouldn't be a real prequel to becoming Lissa's guardian at all.

Unless that was the reason why she was going to be given someone different. Maybe she'd messed up so badly in the decisions that had led up to Spokane they'd decided she didn't deserve to be Lissa's guardian anymore. Maybe this was where she had to learn to live with that.

And if she didn't have Lissa, didn't have the identity of her guardian, then Rose had nothing.

"I'm sorry," Eddie whispered.

She still didn't respond.

She barely even heard her own name being called.

Christian. That was at least better than someone random. She would still be around Lissa for most of the day.

So what was the point?

Why did they just give her to Lissa?

The ceremony was over and people were starting to move, but Rose was still stuck in her chair. This had completely thrown her off guard, and she'd been forcing herself to try and look forward to this, so that she was looking forward to something. Allowing herself to be optimistic that she would enjoy this.

And there wasn't much of anything to be optimistic about at the moment. Mason was dead, and she was responsible. Dimitri had left, deciding he couldn't stay at the Academy anymore, because of her.

"Rose," Eddie said. "We need to go and pick up our packets."

"I have to speak to Alberta."

"I don't think…"

"I just want to ask why," Rose squashed down her anger. Eddie hadn't earned it. He hadn't earned anything negative at all. "I promise I'm not about to get expelled for screaming at her."

She was furious, but she wasn't the same kid that thought shouting at someone was likely to get her anywhere.

Alberta still looked wary as she approached, and Rose realized she had one of the packets in her hands. "I thought you might want to talk to me about this," she said. "Let's talk about it somewhere more private."

Rose followed her into one of the offices in the sports building, and sat down opposite the head of the guardians, a desk between them.

"I understand that you'll be frustrated," Alberta said.

"I don't understand. I thought this was supposed to be a practice run for when we're real guardians, but you didn't give me Lissa." She knew her insecurity had seeped into her voice, and berated herself for it.

"There are extenuating circumstances. And don't worry, those circumstances aren't that you aren't going to be assigned to the princess after graduation." Alberta handed over the packet containing the information on her charge and her practice stake. "Just have a look."

Rose didn't need to look at most of it. She knew Christian's tragic background, his family members, and his current relationship with Lissa.

What she hadn't been expecting was the photos and letter that she found behind those.

"Shi—" she almost swore, before silencing herself.

"Extenuating circumstances," Alberta said.

The photos were unmistakable. It was Christian's mother, staring back at her. It matched the photographs in the historical part of the file to a T, but she would have been able to see Christian's features in Moira Ozera even without them. "You think these are recent?" she asked.

Strigoi didn't age. She looked exactly the same as she had when she'd turned, when Christian was nine.

"We don't know," Alberta said. "There's nothing to pinpoint the time in any of them, but they've started being sent to Christian recently. They might not be real, but someone is clearly trying to intimidate him, one way or the other."

Rose pulled out the one note that had been sent. It's time for you to join me.

She shivered.

After everything that had just happened, she'd hoped that the rest of the school year might be calm. She could focus on her training, and everyone else could focus on getting on with their lives, too. Spokane had proven she wasn't good enough yet, but now one of her friends was in danger.

She and Christian had gained a level of respect and understanding since Spokane, and he was seeing Liss. By extension she would do what she could to protect him.

She'd just wanted to be better by the time that was tested.

"I see." She was still annoyed, but worried, too. Why give her to Christian, and not Eddie? Eddie was just as competent as her, and she would still be with Christian most of the time even if she was guarding Lissa, but she understood now.

Someone was threatening Christian, and though she doubted it was his mom brought back from the dead, he did need someone watching over him.

"He hadn't mentioned it," she said. "Lissa doesn't know." She hadn't known, either.

How could he have not mentioned this to her?

"I know," Alberta said. "Headmistress Kirova has asked him to keep it to himself for now, until we can verify exactly how real this threat is. We don't want anyone else to find out until we can assess whether the school is at threat as a whole."

"You're asking me to lie to Lissa?"

"I'm asking you to maintain your confidentiality as a guardian."

"I'll guard Christian, but I'm not lying to Lissa about why." She might not have Lissa in the field experience, but she was Lissa's guardian. She wasn't doing anything that might hurt her charge. "Lissa isn't going to tell anyone, but she has to know, and Christian has to tell her." She cleared her throat, realizing she'd strayed into insolence. "I understand," she said. "But they're together, and she knows how to keep her mouth shut."

Alberta gave a slight nod. "I'm not going to be able to convince you to stay quiet anyway." Her lip quirked. "Good luck with the field experience, Rose. I know you're still angry, but having to guard a Moroi you don't have a bond with is important practice. I would have been doing this regardless of the extenuating circumstances."

Of course she'd only said that after Rose had calmed down enough to accept the situation.