Tudor Rose [BoyxBoy]

Chapter 21 - Rememberance

Bastian felt as though he could not catch his balance. He was standing and looking out the window of his dormitory when the spell of dizziness hit him. It was five minutes till midnight and they had not been allowed to leave their rooms. He felt like opening the window and flying away from the academy. Something very wrong was happening, and he no longer wanted to be there.

"How much longer can they hold us like this?" he complained aloud.

Dmitri was reading silently in his bed, clearly enjoying the time off from schoolwork and other people. Bastian was growing restless. "By what authority is a pureblood killer even judged?"

"The reigning head of the area would usually deal with such a situation," said Dmitri through his faint Russian accent. "Though, since the murder happened in such close proximity Elizabeth Tudor, it might be left in the hands of the Senate."

Bastian was startled when the door was forced open. It was a monitor, a young woman with light hair and eyes. "Classes will resume as normal at twelve-fifteen. The Headmistress wants everyone to go straight to their classes and back to their dormitories. The lockdown will resume at dawn."

"Ironic," Dmitri said. "We are free to roam when the killer is surely at his strongest."

This freedom was a welcome break, and Bastian threw on his uniform and combed his hair while Dmitri lazily dragged himself out of bed. At the bottom of the staircases they searched for Adali and Xenia but neither girl could be found.

"You," said Bastian to a pathetic looking Hohenzollern girl who had not yet earned her fangs and was surely not of high birth. "Have you any idea where Princess Adali is?"

"No," the girl said in a small voice. "I haven't seen her."

"What about Grand Duchess Xenia Romanov?"

"I really don't know," the girl said before turning and joining a flock of other girls on their way to class. Bastian watched with contempt as the girls snickered and flashed their eyes at him in attempts to be seductive. He was used to unnecessary attention, but in this situation he was annoyed.

"Let's just go to class," said Dmitri. "I'm sure we'll find them eventually."

They did not find them in any of their classes. Michael seemed to be missing as well. Then Bastian understood, and he told his idea to Dmitri when they were walking together to Hunting. "They must be under questioning. Michael, Adali, and Xenia were all in the forest when that girl was killed. They would be the prime suspects."

Dmitri did not seem shocked, and Bastian suspected he had already considered this. There was a intensely dark cloud over the classroom when the entered it. Professor Bordia stood leaning on his podium, clearly lost in thought. The students were chattering uncontrollably, and the noise angered Bastian to the brink of unleashing his fangs and killing every last person in the room. The empty seats belonging to Michael, Adali, Xenia, and now even Henri, were disturbing to him. What could Henri have possibly had to do with the murder? Where was he? Bastian felt he was wasting the free time they had been given by the Headmistress when he could have been searching for his cousin. The members of his branch of the Hohenzollern family were sworn guardians over the princely main bloodline. If Adali was in trouble, it was his direct responsibility to protect her.

He attempted to leave the room at vampiric speed but ran directly into the barreled chest of Professor Borgia. "Where do you think you're going, Hohenzollern?" asked the Professor.

"To search for the Princess," he answered honestly.

"Princess Adali is in questioning at this very moment, as she is a suspect in the murder that took place last night. Please return to your seat."

"Why are you not in questioning, then? You were in the forest as well, were you not? You found the body."

"You are far beyond out of line, boy," said the Borgia and Bastian's fangs extended involuntarily. The entire class had focused in on this confrontation. "If we were not already on lockdown I would give you detention," he threatened, remaining calm. It was against the rules to unsheathe one's fangs against another student and especially a professor, but Bastian had lost his patience. He stared into the Borgia's eyes for a long time until he had to look away, as the Professor would not give in. His fangs retracted and he backed down.

He returned to his seat with his arms folded over his chest and he could feel the eyes burning into him. He had brought needless attention to the situation, though it was really the Professor's fault.

"We must all take a moment to remember our fallen sister, Vera Constantinova, daughter of Grand Duke Constantine Nikolaevich of House Romanov and Princess Alexandra of House Hohenzollern."

Bastian's eyes widened and he knew Dmitri recognized the name as well. An image came immediately to his mind—the memory of the girl he had run into when he left the Headmistress's office the day before. He knew he had recognized her. She had been raised in Russia, but she was distantly related to him. He could vaguely remember playing with her in court as children. Her long black hair and green eyes consumed his thoughts, and again he felt dizzy. He had to close his eyes.

"What happened to her?" someone asked boldly.

"We are still investigating the circumstances of her death, although I can tell you she was drained completely by a vampire. Vera had not yet come into her birthright, making her easy prey."

Before anything else could be said, a monitor entered the classroom. "We have been sent to bring Grand Duke Dmitri Romanov and Sebastian Hohenzollern back to the Headmistress, immediately," said the monitor.

They stood and the whispers began as they walked up the stairs of the classroom to the entrance. One of the monitors followed closely behind them while they had been instructed to follow the other. They were not headed to the Headmistress's office, but somewhere much deeper in the catacombs of the palace.