Sunshine

Wake Up

Rose's POV

I hadn't told Sonya why I needed a charm to disguise myself, and the only question she had asked was whether it would help Lissa. When I told her yes, she had promised the charmed item would be delivered to me within three days. Less than 48 hours later, there was a knock on the door that made me jump. I'd been watching a movie with Sunshine, hoping a distraction would keep her from accidentally using her magic, and immediately entered guardian-mode.

"Bathroom. Now," I told Sunshine, and pulled my stake out of its holster at my hip. Slowly, I walked towards the door and listened. I knew a Strigoi wouldn't knock, but one could never be too careful. Any number of threats could lurk outside. I made sure that Sunshine had followed my order, then unlocked the door to be faced with...Mikhail Tanner. I breathed a sigh of relief and put away my stake.

I was going to ask him to come inside, but then I thought better of it. Warily, I looked around the corridor. "Did anyone follow you?"

Mikhail tilted his head in slight confusion. "Why would—ah. You don't know yet."

"Know what?" I asked cautiously. I knew everything I needed to know. I'd expected Sonya to send the item per mail or even drop it off herself, but I certainly hadn't expected her to hand it over to someone who worked at the royal court. Of course, she loved and trusted Mikhail, but still...

"I'm no longer at court. Sonya has requested me as her personal guardian, and with Vasilisa on the throne..."

Oh. Oh! That was good news. Amazing news, even! Not many dhampirs had this sort of opportunity, let alone someone with his history. I smiled, genuinely happy for him, but there was a sadness that came along with that.

After over eight years of not having seen Dimitri, I could no longer delude myself into thinking we could ever be what we once were. Even when – if – we could return to court, nothing would be the same. We'd promised each other eternal love, but how could we be sure of that? I didn't even know if he was still alive! I thought that, somehow, I should know if he had died, but there was no logical reason to believe so. I had been unable to locate him and Christian last week, and—

"Rose?" Mikhail ripped me from my spiraling thoughts. "Are you all right?"

I sighed. "Yes. Yes, I'm... I was just lost in thought."

Standing there awkwardly, I was unsure what else to say to him. I was not about to tell him what I'd been thinking about, and I also didn't think I should invite him inside. Even if he hadn't come here straight from court, this whole thing was strictly on a need-to-know basis. I did not want him asking questions about why there was an eight-year-old Moroi girl hanging out in my hotel room.

"Right. I'm guessing there's something in that room I'm not supposed to see?" He shook his head in amusement. "For your sake, I hope that's not another criminal. Or that you won't be using this—" He produced a small cardboard box and handed it to me. "—to break one out of a high security prison."

"That, at least, I can promise," I told him. It was the truth, after all. St. Vladimir's was neither a prison – though it had certainly felt like one at times – nor was I trying to smuggle someone out. The opposite was the case, in fact.

He regarded me sceptically, then seemingly decided not to ask any further questions. "Take care of yourself, Rose." He turned around to leave, but then hesitated. "I've heard whispers. From the council. An order from the Queen may be an order, but they're starting to believe whatever mission you are on is useless. It's been too long. You may not have much time before they start reaching out to you."

I nodded my understanding and watched him leave. I knew this was going to happen eventually, too. As far as I was aware, the Guardian Council was under the impression I was on a Strigoi-hunting mission. While still frowned upon, they would have allowed this simply due to my knowledge of specific Strigoi connections, and it appeared to me they didn't think I was going off alone. Sometimes, I would meet a guardian willing to 'join the hunt', and I'm sure that might have been another reason why they'd started to realise no results were being produced. "I'm currently in the process of tracking and will let you know once I'm close" or "I'm working on my next lead" may have worked to get those who intended to tag along to back off, but they couldn't have done much for my reputation. I shuddered at the thought of what the guardian gossip mill must have been saying about me.

When I was younger, I'd hoped I would one day rival my mother in glory and reputation, but I knew what I was doing was just as important. It was a guardian's duty to protect their charge, and I'd learnt long ago that protection came in many forms. Sometimes that just might be playing mother to my best friend's child.

I shut the door and made my way to the bathroom, where Sunshine was sitting quietly, waiting. It was a good thing she knew how to follow my orders because I was about to give her quite a few more. It was an even better thing that I had started lying to her as soon as she could understand words. I'd celebrated her first birthday twice, and she herself was under the impression that she would be turning seven years old in two weeks. I would never be able to tell her that, really, she'd turned eight just over a week ago. A necessary deception to ensure the connection to the lost Dragomir child would not be made, just in case we would one day be in a situation that required her being among Moroi again. A link to me would still raise eyebrows, of course, but if everything went according to plan, nobody would even suspect that she knows me. Naturally, that all hinged on her ability to keep a secret. But, so far, she had done well in that regard. Maybe a little too well at times.

"We're going to go on a journey tomorrow," I told her slowly. "And we might not see each other for a little afterward."

She didn't seem to like that much. "Why? You said you promised my mommy to never leave me."

"I did. I did, Sunny, but I also promised to protect you. You understand that things have happened that we can't ignore."

She seemed almost scared now, shying away from me as I reached for her little hands. "Do you think I'm crazy? Are you sending me away?"

I let out a long sigh. I would have to explain some things to her. She knew little about the world of the Moroi that I so desperately wanted to keep her away from, though I had tried to teach her some of the basics. Still, it was time to let her know more.

So I told her about the magic, the academies, and St. Vladimir's in particular. I told her about the good times her mother and I had had there – leaving out the trauma and death we'd experienced – and I told her how much she would love it. The more she learnt, the more I could feel her longing to finally be a part of the world I had kept hidden from her for far too long. As much as it pained me to let her go, I knew I would have to. She'd have to enter this world sooner or later, anyway. At least I hoped she would. If she didn't, that would mean something had gone horribly wrong at court, and I didn't even want to think about that possibility right now.

Then came the orders. Don't mention my name. Don't let anyone know that you don't know who your birth mother is. Don't talk about family unless you must. If something seems amiss, contact me. It was all pretty standard, really, and apart from the fact that she knew my real name, she didn't really know anything that could cause too much trouble. She nodded at every order, and I knew she would follow them. The only thing left to do now was talk to the headmistress and pray to God that she wouldn't see right through the charm Sonya had made for me.

After I'd put Sunshine to bed, I finally opened the little cardboard box Mikhail had given me. Inside was a simple ring. Different from what I'd usually worn when disguising myself with compulsion but, then again, those things had usually been whatever we could find. A ring was subtle. Small. Less likely to be noticed by anyone who knew more than the simple basics about Spirit. Which, unfortunately for me, were more than a few people at the Academy. Smart.

Underneath the ring, there was a note from Sonya. I unfolded it and couldn't help the smile it brought to my lips. Of course she would have figured it out.

The charm will work. Kirova has always been astonishingly weak to compulsion.

S.K.