"𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐬 - 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬?"
"𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐲𝐞𝐬."
‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙
in which the other dragomir princess falls for exactly who s...
YOU LOOK NICE, TOO. NOT NEARLY AS NICE AS ROSE IN THAT SUIT, THOUGH.
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[ season 1 — episode 6 ]
Rose was sitting on the edge of her bed, taking deep breaths. Both Lissa and Mischa were there as well, waiting to walk to the Dhampir section of the church with her. Before leaving for the Royal Tour, Rose would be getting her first Molnija mark — the sacred tattoo given to a Guardian for each Strigoi skill. It was especially honorable because no Novice had killed one since Rose's mother when she was in school. Only Dhampir would be able to view it, so Lissa and Mischa would have to wait on the lower Moroi level while Rose was getting her tattoo.
The decision to give Mischa a Molnija mark was still up in the air. No Moroi — living at least — had ever killed one before. It was clear that the Council didn't like that Mischa used her magic offensively, and Victor suspected they didn't want to encourage her behavior by giving her a mark. A surprising number of Guardians were making a case for her to receive a mark, though. They found her actions to be impressive and brave — something worth celebrating.
But for now, Rose would be the only one to receive a Molnija mark. And it was clear she was nervous about it, even after receiving an 'I'm proud of you for once' email from her mother. Janine couldn't make it due to an assignment, but an email was far more than her daughter had even been expecting.
Once inside the church, Mischa and Lissa couldn't see the ceremony, but they could hear the rhythmic chanting of the Dhampir in Old Moroi. Neither twin actually knew how long tattoos took, but given how small the mark was, they figured it couldn't be too much of a wait.
That theory was proven correct, but not for the reason they thought. Rose ended up fleeing the ceremony before the needle could even touch her skin. Luckily, Lissa managed to grab her before she could fully get away. It took several minutes to calm a distraught Rose down so that she could explain what happened.
What happened was she was overcome with memories of Mikhail. And she didn't feel she deserved the mark, as it was only a reminder that she killed him — that it was her fault he was dead.
"You have to stop blaming yourself," Lissa told Rose, who was wiping away her tears.
"I killed one of my only friends," Rose said.
"Rose," Mischa said softly. "You didn't kill Mikh—"
"Don't lie to me, Mish," Rose said, sniffing as she cut her eyes toward her. "You know I did. And your face when you realized it was me who did it... You'll never forgive me, and I don't blame you for that."
Mischa's eyes watered, only able to remember that night in flashes. Part of her wished she didn't remember any of it. But she recalled how she looked at Rose with betrayal in her eyes, ready to blame every part of Mikhail's death on her because she'd been the one to drive the stake through his chest.
