Hey, guys! I've decided to start another VA fanfic, inspired by the fact that I just bought myself the entire series and am now re-hooked :P I have a few things I've changed about the story. Jill and Lissa are still sisters, but Lissa's not queen. Ariana won the election in my version, and she is now the queen.

Secondly, I'm going to have all the royals have the title of "prince" or "princess".

Thirdly, Mason never died.

Okay, that's all the changes I've made to the storyline. As always, read, review, and enjoy!

Hi. My name is Rose, and this is my story.

I'm sure many, if not most, of you have already heard of me. Most of those who know me will know me as Rose Hathaway. Some of the heritage junkies here will probably know me as Rosemarie Mazur. (If any of you ever address me as Rosemarie, I'll punch you without hesitation or regret. Just saying.) But, as it turns out, neither of those names is correct.

My real name is Rose Szelsky.

Yes, you read that correctly. You're probably going, "How are you a Szelsky? Aren't they royal?" And you'd be correct. The Szelsky name is a line of royals. Now time for the plot twist… I'm a royal too. A dhampir, yes. But still a royal. Scandal, scandal, now let's skip to the rest of it.

Apparently Ibrahim Mazur isn't the only Moroi that my mom got it on with. No, she had to be a whore and go jump in bed with the Szelsky lord that she guards, and I was the outcome of it. Way to go, Mom. We found that out because when Tasha shot me, they found a unique gene in my blood that was rare even for Moroi, and unheard of for a dhampir. And Abe didn't have it, nor did my mom, so she had to fess up on who all she'd been with, and surprise! I'm a Szelsky.

So now, because of my newly discovered status, I am now considered a royal, and boy, did I get hell for it! There was a big controversy at Court over whether or not I would be allowed to claim the title of a royal, or whether I would simply remain a guardian. Thanks to my shady guardian past, what with the going rogue with Lissa for a few years and then going rogue to go find Dimitri, and then going rogue again with Dimitri… Well, let's just say that my sketchy commitment to the job inclined Queen Szelsky (Yes, my new "aunt" had won the crown in the election) to place me in a less risky position. I liked her all right—she's been pretty cool to me, and she's not snotty like a lot of the other royals are (coughContacough). But now I'm pretty pissed at her, because she was the primary reason that I'd been forbidden from guardianship. Instead, I get to have guardians, which infuriates me even more. I was born to be a guardian, not be guarded by them! I protested this, of course, but the steadfast response I'd been given was "You're a royal, Rosemarie. Moroi or not, you will have guardians, whether or not you want them."

So yeah. I'm pretty pissed at life now. I wouldn't blame you if you don't want to continue on to read how my life got turned upside down. But if you do, I'll tell you this—it's been a hell of a ride. So buckle up and hold on tight… Because this is the story of the roller coaster my life has turned into.