Goodbyes

Prompt - Murder

Description – Rose never imagined saying goodbye would be so difficult.

POV – First Person

Word Count: 1,816

I followed Guardian Geoffries down the long corridor, wishing I were anywhere but here. There were a million things I'd rather be doing; sparring with Dimitri or gossiping with Lissa—hell, I'd even prefer being verbally berated by Adrian again as opposed to what I was about to face. Stepping through the door that Geoffries was holding open, I thanked him with a nod, waiting for the door to fully close behind me before advancing further into the cellblock.

There was a single, solitary prisoner being held in this unit; the person in question had been requesting to see me for the last three weeks. Each time I had refused, until now. She had finally gone on a hunger strike to prove how determined she was, and since she clearly was prepared to starve herself until her demands were met, I had finally caved in.

"What do you want, Tasha?"

She turned at the sound of my voice, her icy blue eyes narrowed as she raked her gaze over me from head to toe, her lips curled up in an ugly sneer. "It's about time you showed up."

Giving her a cold look, I pulled one of the metal chairs away from the wall and sat down, refusing to let her bait me. She wanted me here for a reason, so sooner or later she'd get to the point. Until then, I would sit and keep my guardian mask in place, not uttering a word.

It didn't take nearly as long as I imagined it would—the silence seemed to grate on her as badly as it did on me. "You're brave coming in here alone, Rose. Aren't you worried I might try to hurt you? Maybe accidentally set fire to all of that pretty hair that my Dimka seems so fond of?"

I smirked. I'd underestimated Natasha Ozera once—it would never happen again. Before agreeing to see her, I'd verified that certain safeguards were in place. "Try it."

"I know they lace the food with drugs to inhibit our magic. Didn't they tell you? I haven't been eating." She smiled, and it was an evil, hateful smile, letting me know exactly what her reasoning had been for demanding I come alone.

"Like I said—try it, Tasha. Go on; give it your best shot."

Her hands shot up, and for a minute, I thought I'd made a grave miscalculation, but her growl of frustration put my worries to rest.

"How? I haven't even seen a feeder…."

Borrowing one of Dimitri's favorite quips, I leaned back in the chair and smiled. "Guardian secrets."

She paced the small cell, mumbling under her breath, and it took 3 rotations before her eyes came to rest on the half empty water bottle that was sitting on the small table. "The water. It's in the fucking water."

Ignoring her statement, I stood up, stretching. "As enjoyable as it is to see another one of your crazy schemes crash and burn, I have things to do Tasha. I assume the only reason you wanted to see me was so you could light me up like a human torch, and since that didn't pan out—

"I don't belong in here Rose." She cut me off, her voice so quiet that even with my enhanced hearing I had to strain to catch it. "You of all people should understand why I did what I did."

I gave a dry, humorless laugh. "Which part? Murdering the Queen? Framing me? Or maybe you mean shooting me in the fucking chest. I'm afraid you'll have to be a bit more specific."

"That was an accident; I didn't mean to pull the trigger. My finger—"

"Bullshit!" I was at the bars before I made a conscious decision to move. "Christian and Lissa might buy your wide eyed innocent routine, but not me. I. Saw. You. Right before you pulled the trigger, your eyes went from Dimitri to me, and then flicked from Lissa to me. You were gaging whether or not I was close enough to jump in front of her. You knew I would do it. You knew that I spent my whole life preparing to give my life in order to protect hers."

I gritted my teeth, trying to calm down. Until that moment, I had not revealed that little secret to another living soul—not even to Dimitri. I didn't want to make a bad situation even worse. I didn't want the people I cared about knowing exactly how determined Tasha had been to remove me from Dimitri's life.

"Why couldn't you have just left him alone? Why did you have to interfere? He would have been happy with me!"

Sighing, I made my way back to the chair and sat down. "I tried. We both tried. It was impossible. We love each other."

Tasha made a scoffing sound, her face twisting into a disgusted smirk. "You look at him and see a handsome face and a well-built body. You wanted him so you spread your legs like any other little blood whore, trying to lure him in. Dimka doesn't love you—right now he thinks he does because you keep throwing yourself at him, flaunting your body and your pretty face, tossing around your fucking hair. I love him—I've loved him for years."

"You don't know what love is, Tasha. If you love someone, you want the best for them, even if it means you won't be together."

She smiled, an arrogant, self-assured expression on her face as she nodded her head. "You see—which is exactly why you should have left him alone! You knew how he felt about having a family… you should have encouraged him to take my offer and—"

"I did."

My statement was met with absolute silence, the two of us staring across the corridor at each other, neither one blinking. "When we were at the lodge, on the night of the Voda banquet, I told him it was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and that he should take it. I told him that no matter how I felt about the situation, I wanted him to be happy."

Her confident look faded away, replaced by a look of confusion. "Then… Why… Why did he say no?"

"I think you know the answer to that question, and… despite everything you've done to me, I'm not cruel enough to rub salt in your open wounds." I stood up, returning the chair to its proper place, my anger spent and replaced with a strange, lingering sadness.

"Why did you agree to come here today if not to gloat over the fact that he loves you and not me?"

I sighed and turned to face her, tired and wanting nothing more than to be out of this place and all the horrible memories it held. Memories of Dimitri refusing to see me, of my own captivity… I needed to be at home, wrapped in Dimitri's strong embrace, not here discussing the past with a bitter woman who hated me.

"Because at mealtime every single day, three times a day, Christian calls the guards on duty to see if you've eaten. He walks around with his head hanging, trying to hide the tears in his eyes at the thought of you suffering. He's my friend, and he's hurting. Coming to see you was the least that I could do for him."

"So you came because Christian asked you to?"

I shook my head. "No. He hasn't mentioned it to me—the guards are the ones who passed along your messages. I made the decision to come because he's suffered enough because of you, and I don't want him in pain if there's something I can do to help."

She studied me, standing there with her hands clutching the bars, and her blue eyes filled with something I never in a million years would have expected to see.

Admiration.

"I hate to say this, but you're a good person Rose. If it hadn't been for Dimka, you and I might have become good friends. I did like you, before he turned me down."

I walked over and laid my hand over hers, ignoring the way she flinched at my touch. "I liked you too, Tasha. I admired you, and in a strange way, I still do. That's what hurts."

I turned to leave, and was almost at the door when she called out, my hand resting on the knob as her words stopped me in my tracks.

"I'm Sorry Rose. For everything."

Staring at the door I felt a bit of my resolve break. "Me too."

I turned, and for once I didn't hide my emotions away behind sarcasm or wit. I let her see everything I was feeling, and I let her see the silent tears that trailed down my cheeks. "I do understand why you did it—the murder, framing me… shooting me… everything."

"Killing Tatiana was a pleasure, and I don't regret it, but I never should have involved you. I should have dropped the gun. And believe it or not, now that we've had this talk, I will regret what I did until the day I die."

Wiping away my tears with the back of my hand, I bowed my head respectfully in her direction, as befitted a Royal Moroi. Even stripped of her title, her apology proved that she was still a noble, and I honored that, in my own small way.

"Goodbye Lady Ozera."

"Tasha. I'm just Tasha, Rose. You of all people know how I hate those ridiculous titles." She gave me a sad smile, then nodded her head. "Tell Dimk—tell Dimitri I said goodbye, please, and that I'm sorry."

"I will."

I was in a daze as I left, hurrying out of the building as fast as I could, on the verge of losing control. As soon as I stepped outside I found myself enveloped in Dimitri's strong arms. I probably should have questioned how he knew where to find me, but instead I just pressed myself against him, sighing with relief. Only then did I break down, sobbing against the comfortable, familiar warmth of his chest. I was weeping for the woman I'd once looked up to as a role model; long before she had been my enemy she had been an inspiration.

There were only two possible sentences for treason—execution, or a life spent behind bars in Tarasov, which in my opinion, was a fate worse than death. In a just a few days, she would learn her fate, and I knew that whatever the outcome might be, I wouldn't see her again.

I never would have imagined that saying goodbye to Tasha Ozera would be a hard thing to do, but in all honesty, it had been one of the most painful things I'd ever done.

A/N I was on tumblr this morning, bored out of my mind, when the lovely AimeeIvashkov saved me by sending me a message stating the following:

"It seems like you're bored, so here's a challenge: Prompt: Murder. 500 word minimum, 1st person Point of View. 20 minute time limit. GO."

Two of the members of my RP group served as timekeepers, and as soon as I responded to the challenge with a post, the clock started. Twelve minutes later, this piece was done, and it's a little bit longer than Aimee anticipated. I didn't proof it, so if you spot any errors, please let me know and I'll fix them post haste!

If anyone ever gets bored in the wee hours and wants to send me a challenge, my tumlblr Ids are on my profile.

I hope you all enjoy this, and thank you, as always for reading my stories. Standard disclaimer as stated on my profile applies. Reviews are appreciated, after all, I did spend twelve minutes of my life writing this, lol. ;o)