Soul Bound

Chapter 3

DPOV

I was in my room thinking about the last 24 hours. I never thought it would turn out like this. I had not given much thought to what would happen to the girls once we actually found them. I had a mission to complete and my focus was directed to locating them and bringing them back safely.

It had been my soul purpose too. It gave me something to focus on other than my guilt. It was more active than a normal guarding position at an Academy and for that I was grateful. I think if I had been alone with my thoughts long enough at Court or at an Academy I would have gone insane.

I still remember Guardian Croft giving me the file on Vasilissa. It had been an honor to be assigned to the last Dragomir. I hadn't felt it at the time. I hadn't felt much of anything then. It wasn't often that a Guardian outlived its charge. The guilt I felt was eating me up inside.

I had nearly laughed in his face when he told me I was assigned to the last Dragomir. Why would they give me such an important charge? Don't they know she wouldn't be safe with me. They put too much faith in my skills. Well, my skills had been useless in saving Ivan, because I wasn't there.

And it seemed I would start out that way again, away from my charge. I couldn't miss the irony in my assignment.

But it had intrigued me. I had read the file cover to cover trying to find a reason why the Princess would leave. Was she kidnapped? Was she rebellious? Was she grieve stricken and didn't care about her own life anymore? Was she even alive anymore?

Then Hans gave me another file. Rose's file. I read that one too. It was the complete opposite to Vasilissa's. The file stated that they were best friends and were presumed to have run away together. At first I couldn't understand that they were friends. They seemed so different. But then I was reminded of Ivan and myself. We had been opposites too. We hadn't known each other as long as Rose and Vasilissa, but I understood that bond.

Everyone I talked to believed Rose to have run away and the Princess to have gone with her. But I wonder if that was true. Because for all the transgressions found in her file, I could read one thing very clearly. Rose was dedicated to Vasilissa and I don't think she would endanger her like that. The only way it made sense if Vasilissa would run and Rose had to go with her to protect her.

After meeting them, I think my assessment was right. But what Vasilissa was running from, I still didn't know. And I doubt either girl would tell me.

Now alone in my room, I was able to replay the events of today in my head. I had brought the princess back and in the process became a mentor to my future Guardian partner. Although I do think that could be an advantage. I could train her in the way I see fit and we could already start to form a relationship of trust and familiarity. But I must admit the idea of training her feels a little daunting. And if the looks of pity from my colleagues were any indication, I had my work cut out for me.

I knew from her record and from my brief interaction with Rose that she was quite the little firecracker, I also believed in what I told Kirova, She has a lot of potential and it would be a shame to waste that. She was extremely dedicated to the princess and she understood without question the concept of 'They come first'. She understood sacrifice better than many Guardians twice her age.

Tomorrow I will start training her. I was thinking of ways to test how much she was behind. Did she train at all in those two years on the run? If our altercation in the ally was any indication she had progressed beyond what a 15-year-old novice should be able to do. But who taught her? Not to mention it was mostly raw passion and not much technique. But she did show a certain amount of battle instinct. She knew the moves I was going to make but she was too slow and untrained to be able to prevent them. But I could show her technique. Technique can be taught, instinctively knowing what to do in a fight, cannot.