Hi everyone! The goal is to tell a story from Rose's point of view. I'll pick up where Last Sacrifice left off, but will adhere very strictly to the plot laid out in the Bloodlines series – so spoiler alert! Any advice and criticisms you all have to offer would be greatly appreciated and I welcome anything you have to say. Since Rose is barely a minor character in most of the Bloodlines series, I'll obviously have to take a few liberties, but that means you guys can send me suggestions of what you've always wanted to read. I've always wondered what was going through Rose's head during all of this, I bet many of you have as well. Especially during, ahem, The Ruby Circle, but that's pretty far away. So for the time being – enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy, Bloodlines, or any of the characters, all rights go to Richelle Mead

"I don't know," I said, leaning against his chest. "But I think it's going to be good."

Looking back on that day, I realize maybe good wasn't the right word to describe what I had gotten myself into. But I guess hindsight has 20/20 vision right? The days following Lissa's coronation were a blur. I spent most of them as Lissa's shadow, standing at attention against walls; the walls in the throne room, the walls in the council chambers, even the walls outside her suite in palace housing. I didn't mind though, I was finally living out my wildest dreams: I was a guardian, I was Lissa's guardian at that. But even my wildest dreams hadn't involved protecting the leader of the Moroi world. I guess being Rose Hathaway means being prepared for anything, including unintentionally getting your best friend – and fellow 18 year old – elected queen of an ancient race of vampires.

Lissa was dealing with her new responsibilities as queen better than I would have ever imagined. The grace and intelligence with which she ruled her people only enforced my notion that she was born to lead. Vasilisa Dragomir had been my best friend from the day we met and every day after that. Despite our differences, her being Moroi royalty, and me being a half-vampire, half-human Dhampir, we had become friends when we were only five years old. I had protected her then, I had protected her when we were forced to flee St. Vladimir's, and I would protect her now as her royal guardian.

I had even protected her with my own life earlier this month. It didn't even occur to me what it would mean for me if I threw myself in front of Lissa. I only knew I had to protect her, my best friend, my sister. It meant dying, again. But Lissa wasn't able to heal me. My own soul had fought its way back from the world of the dead this time, and by doing so had severed my bond to Lissa. After that, no one doubted my ability to protect Lissa and I was made a royal guardian. Some days I miss the bond. I've spent a lot of my spare time here at court trying to learn how to protect her without it. Hey, I'm still a kick-ass guardian, but I often find myself thinking about the time Alberta Petrov had referred to the bond as a crutch. A part of me resented this extra training but more training meant more time with my favorite sparring partner, Dimitri Belikov.

"Sparring partner," is one of Dimitri's many roles in my life: former mentor, former teacher, current lover, my soul's counterpart, you get the picture. We are both guardians, I have my royal charge and he has his: Christian Ozera. Lissa and Christian's relationship meant that Dimitri and I are able to spend a lot of time together, but it's mostly in a professional capacity. Despite my many attempts at getting him to drop his guardian mask while on duty, by shooting him smoldering looks, man-eater smiles, and brushing skin against skin in passing, I had yet to crack his stoic exterior. Oh well, one day, his control isn't that good.

When the four of us, meaning Lissa, Christian, Dimitri, and I are alone together, the environment is relaxed and conversational. Tonight however, it is not the four of us. As queen, Lissa is expected to host a number of royal events. Tonight's event, a royal dinner. These dinners mean that Dimitri and I are expected to don our formal guardian black and whites.

"These pants do magical things for my ass," I told Dimitri as I stared admiringly into the bathroom mirror of our apartment. They were stretchy and black, honestly I felt magical was putting it mildly.

He poked his head around the corner of the door, toothbrush in his mouth. His eye brows rose as he stared at my body. I felt his eyes wash over every inch of me in the span of only a few moments. His gaze always made my breath catch in my throat, something about his eyes, dark brown eyes that I loved so, so much. He stepped into the doorway and leaned his magnificent 6'7" frame against it. He didn't stop brushing his teeth as he continued his assessment of me. He took a step closer and I felt my blood start to burn, toothpaste on his chin or not, the man was sexy. My body tensed with every step he took closer to me, until he was standing right in front of me. He leaned down, he was close, so close.

And then he moved me out of the way with one swift arm movement and spit toothpaste into the sink.

"Nice, Comrade, really romantic," I told him, folding my arms over my chest.

He tossed his toothbrush into a cup by the sink and wiped his mouth on a towel that hung to his right. He turned to me with a look of amusement on his face.

"Oh Roza," he told me, "everything about you is magic."

I beamed, "Now that's more like it."

"You're both wrong," a voice from the living room called. "It would be magical, or the result of magic, if Rose ever showed up to her shifts on time," the voice chimed as it's source came closer.

Dimitri and I both moved into the hallway and saw Christian Ozera standing at the other end of it. He wore a tux, and I hate to admit that it did great things for him.

Instead of telling him that, I flicked him off and headed into the bedroom to grab my blazer. I took one last fleeting glance at my appearance and headed into the living room where I found Christian and Dimitri talking casually on the couch. It had become clear to Lissa and me that Dimitri and Christian's relationship of guardian and charge was quickly evolving into something resembling, dare I say it, friendship. I smiled at them briefly, amazed at how well things had turned out for all of us. There was a time when both Dimitri and I had been slated to guard Lissa. This interfered with our feelings for each other, or maybe it was the other way around. Whatever, it had been one of the reasons Dimitri had initially refused to acknowledge his feelings for me. Dimitri being assigned to Christian was more than either of us could have ever hoped for.

"Christian, what are you lying around for, we're going to be late to see the QUEEN!" I told him dramatically, stomping my right foot for emphasis.

"Speaking of her majesty, Lissa was hoping we would swing by Jill's room and escort her to dinner." Christian's face fell a little as he told me. Jill wasn't some one Lissa was comfortable dealing with herself and we all knew it.

Jillian Mastrono-Dragomir was Lissa's half sister, something Lissa had found out about only recently. Lissa had emulated her father and learning that he had cheated on her mother was not something she had come to terms with easily. I worried about Jill, after the coronation she had been brushed aside, I still had no idea what anyone planned on doing with her. Would she remain at court and be trained in the duties of being a royal Moroi princess? Would she go back to St. Vlad's? Jill handled her new role well and insisted she was fine whenever I asked her, but I always found myself thinking about Adrian's last words to me: What happens to her now that you've abandoned her to the royal wolves? Adrian, I needed to stop thinking about Adrian.

"Where is Lissa?" Dimitri asked me. "Shouldn't you be with her?"

I shook my head, "She's been with Hans the last few hours, seeing to the final details of tonight's dinner. She wanted me to have a chance to shower and change beforehand."

Really Lissa just knew that I hated planning events like this. Battling strigoi? Yes. Guest lists and menus? No. Well maybe menus…

"We should go if we're going to meet Princess Dragomir before dinner," Dimitri said, standing up and straightening his own blazer.

"Don't let her hear you call her that," I warned, "Freaks her out."

A few minutes later we were standing outside another one of the many suites in royal housing. Dimitri knocked softly.

"Princess Drago – uh – Jill?"

We all heard the sound of soft, delicate footsteps, followed by the door opening. Jill's saucer-like eyes were the first things I saw. She pulled the door back further realizing who was coming to call.

"Rose! Hi! Oh and Dimitri, Christian, hi! Rose is this dress okay? Usually some one picks something out for me but maybe the stylist forgot, I'm not sure, but I had to pick something myself and I don't know what's appropriate and I hate these dinners and I am so worried and.."

"Jill!" I cut her off, entirely unsure of how she had fit all those words into one breath. "You look beautiful."

And she did. Jill wore a long sleeved forest green dress made of what looked like silk. It draped tastefully off of her shoulders and fell just above the knee. The color made her eyes shine and the cut made the most of her lanky frame. She had even managed to tame most of her unruly hair into some sort of twist at the nape of her neck.

She smiled, obviously relieved. "Okay, if you say so."

A noise came from inside Jill's suite, causing all of us to jump slightly.

"Um, I'm almost ready I just have to grab something," she told us, turning abruptly into her room and closing the door.

Dimitri, Christian, and I, all exchanged confused, somewhat concerned glances. That something turned out to be a some one, and that some one turned out to be Adrian.

Adrian stumbled out of the door grumbling about something to Jill, who followed close behind him.

Christian took in the scene before him and glared at Adrian. "What are you doing here?"

Adrian looked up as he patted down his suit jacket for what I assumed was a pack of cigarettes. A look of pure hatred washed over his usually handsome and good-natured features as he registered who stood in front of him.

"Jailbait was nervous about her choice of wardrobe and asked for my opinion" he told Christian, glaring at him. "I figured some one should look out for her."

His last comment was directed at me.

Jill attempted to break the awkward silence that fell, "We should go, I don't want to ruin everything by being late."

Adrian turned on his heel and stalked off towards the exit. Jill gave me a nervous look and after a nod from me, ran after him.

Christian waited for a few moments before muttering, "prick," and then began walking in the same direction Adrian and Jill had.

I sighed loudly once most of our entourage was out of earshot. It seemed Adrian would never forgive me for my past transgressions against him and the others he claimed I left strewn in my wake.

"He will be okay, he just needs more time," Dimitri told me reassuringly, guessing my thoughts.

"I'm not so sure about that."

Once we reached the ballroom where the dinner was being held, everyone in our party took their respective positions. I stood behind Lissa's chair, which was at the head of a long linen-covered table, laden with fine china and obnoxious floral center-pieces. Lissa gave me a tight smile, one that didn't reach her eyes, as she took her place. I think she hates these things almost as much as I do. I nodded back, switching into guardian mode as I took in our surroundings.

There were three points of entry, one led to a corridor that eventually led to an exit for the building itself. Another led to a room where I knew feeders were being kept, the last led to the kitchen. My eyes eventually fell on Dimitri, they would always find him. He was also scanning the room. Jill sat a few seats down from Lissa, she had her hands in her lap but still managed to fidget every once in a while. I continued my survey of the room and found that I wasn't the only one staring at Jill. Eddie Castile, my fellow guardian and one of my greatest friends, stood not far from her, ever-vigilante.

"Is this seat taken?" Adrian sauntered over, drink in hand, and sat down before Jill even responded.

Lissa looked like she was about to kindly ask him to sit in his assigned seat, but I think the look of relief on Jill's face have her pause. Adrian had always looked out for Jill, they had a sweet brother-sister relationship. Despite any misgivings Adrian and I might have with each other, I'm grateful that there is some one looking out for her.

"Shall we?" Lissa asked her guests, smiling at all of them thoughtfully.

Lissa had flipped her monarch switch on and everyone responded accordingly..

Tonight's crowd was a mixture of various important royals, my favorite. They made small talk as Moroi waiters brought out the first course. The waiters brought out course after course and soon the dinner fell into a comfortable rhythm, the guests discussing the fine cuisine, politics…

I think I felt that something was wrong before I actually saw it, I moved towards Lissa protectively.

"Hathaway!" An agitated voice came through my head piece, "What do you think you're doing?"

I didn't bother answering Hans, I knew something wasn't right. Rose Hathaway's instincts were rarely off.

It all happened so quickly; what we had all assumed were waiters had slowly filled up the room. At some unknown signal, they stretched their collars over the bottom halves of their faces and sprang into action. Most of them made a beeline for Lissa, they were fast, but the other guardians and I were faster. I yanked her out of her seat and pulled her behind me, shielding her with my own body as guests began to scream. Some fell to the floor covering their heads with their arms. Others moved toward Lissa, probably hoping to get inside the ring of protection that was being formed around her by guardians. There was so much noise, dishes broke, people yelled for help, bones snapped as guardians made contact with the Moroi intruders, gun shots…Gun shots. Some one had a gun, cheaters. There were shots fired but no blood, why was there no blood. Why was no one hurt?

It was over before it even began, at another unknown signal, the intruders began to retreat. The Moroi-attackers, although skilled, were no match for the Dhampir-guardians. Once it became clear that none of them were getting away, I turned to Lissa.

"Are you okay!?"

She merely nodded, obviously shaken by what had just happened

"Lissa, we need to-" My words were cut off by a hysterical cry.

"Jill! Jill, Jill, no, no, not you…no…"

I turned, my eyes desperately searching for the source of that anguish. Jill, something had happened to Jill.

"Stay here!" I told Lissa rising, I knew the other guardians would protect her.

It didn't take me long to find her…to find Jill. She was cradled in Adrian's arms as he knelt on the floor. Her arms fell limply on the ground around her as Adrian rocked her back and forth frantically. His face was buried in her hair, the hair she had so painstakingly done to impress the people around her, people who hadn't even noticed something had happened to her. Eddie was there too. He called her name desperately with tears in his eyes, pleading with her, begging her to wake up. I fell to my knees beside the pair.

"Adrian…" I started, "Adrian stop, please, you have to tell me what happened."

"No! I can do this…I can do this…" His voice trailed off but then picked up again with renewed energy as he began chanting, I can do this, I can do this, I can do this…

Jill gasped as the rest of her body came to life. She sat bolt up in Adrian's arms and began taking slow, shallow, breaths.

Her eyes connected with Adrian's, he smiled briefly, and then collapsed.

Okay, so I realize this was a lot of backstory and what not, but I figured it would be a nice refresher of sorts. Let me know what you guys thought, I've already started the next chapter and would love some feedback on this one so I can plan accordingly. Thank you so much for reading!