Shadow Rider (Vampire Academy Fanfic)

Chapter 38 - Rose

Lissa was on the verge of a mental breakdown.

She hid it well behind a mask of outward confidence, but her eyes were a little too wide, lips pale from being pressed hard together.

I had caught up with the Royal Guard just a moment after the royal representatives had gathered in the Council room. And as much as we tried to keep them away, several Moroi and their guardians had gathered outside; a group that was growing steadily larger.

Dimitri and Christian were discussing private plans with Casimir, Mia and other members of the magic training group, which was good, at least.

But when the royals re-emerged, all of them looking frustrated and worried, all hell broke loose.

'Queen Dragomir, Queen Dragomir! Are we safe? How are you going to stop the Strigoi from taking the Court?'

'Is there no hope?'

'How could you not have known about this!?'

'My daughter is dead!'

'We want answers!'

The Moroi public yelled, accused and wailed - Lissa's morale visibly shrunk.

No previous Moroi leader had been forced to deal with an attack on the Court itself. Lissa was, understandably, overwhelmed by the panic she now witnessed.

I rushed to her side, meeting her gaze.

'Chin high, Liss.' I squeezed her shoulder. 'We'll get through this.'

She simply nodded, but the clouded appearance of her eyes faded away, replaced by sharper attentiveness.

'Let's get you back to your room.'

She shook her head. 'No. What's that gonna help?'

'You need to gather your thoughts,' I argued. I jerked my head towards the Moroi trailing after us. 'You're gonna have to address them soon.'

She waved a hand in dismissal. 'That's easy enough. But I need to do something. We need to do something. Take me to Christian.'

'Are you sure?' I questioned, wanting her to consider the consequences. 'You'll definitely be taking sides, then.'

'I need to take a side, Rose!' Lissa argued. 'This is the push we need.'

'Okay. I hope you're right.' I signalled to the other guardians. 'Let's go this way.'

I didn't know exactly what I expected to find at the Stadium...maybe the same panic and chaos we'd witnessed before, but instead, an organised menace presented itself before our eyes. Maybe we stood a chance after all.

It was impressive to see how fast the magic students had progressed. Casimir had really delivered.

Dimitri, who'd been acting as Christian's punching bag - as per usual - relieved himself of his duty and approached me and Lissa. He bowed slightly in Lissa's direction before greeting me with a warm smile. I returned it, and wove my hand through his.

We watched the magic practice for some time, not saying anything. Finally, Dimitri spoke.

'I feel a strange sense of pride,' he admitted, eyes still locked on the magic students.

'Oh?' I held back a smile. I just knew the mentor part of Dimitri would never leave him.

'The same pride I felt watching you progress,' he filled in, meeting my eye.

'No surprise there, comrade. They're progressing almost as fast as I was.'

'You sure it's not faster?' he teased.

I scoffed.

'Still,' I said. 'This is good. We might not be entirely ready for a war. But we sure as hell aren't defenseless.'

'My thoughts exactly,' Dimitri agreed.

I sighed. 'We're just missing one key ingredient.'

'Natia?'

'Yeah. The boys better hurry up and find her.'

Dimitri frowned. 'As much as I hope...I hate to say this but - I doubt it.'

'Don't say that,' I whispered.

'No - hear me out. The Strigoi aren't stupid. They kidnapping her...sure they would want someone like her on their side. But other than that, I think they're hoping someone will go after her.'

I sighed again, this time impatiently. 'If only we had a clue where they had taken her.' Suddenly, a thought struck me. I could imagine the lightbulb flashing above my head.

'Okay. Stupid. Why didn't I think of this before. Casimir!' I yelled, marching towards him.

Casimir swivelled around in surprise. 'Yes?'

'We need to talk.'

He simply waited.

'In private, I think.'

He glanced back at his students, then back at me. 'I don't really have time right now...'

'It's about Natia.'

His face turned to stone, though his eyes grew incredibly focused. He nodded.

'I'll be back in a minute,' he addressed his students.

We walked towards the stands, until we were out of earshot. Dimitri was staring at me quizzically. Casimir looked troubled.

'So,' he said, nodding a greeting to Dimitri. He avoided my eyes. 'What did you want to talk about?'

I was getting a bad vibe from his behaviour, but decided to follow through anyway.

'Casimir - how come you never tried to contact Natia through dreams?' I watched him closely, and could see right away that this was the exact thing he had been expecting, and perhaps fearing, I would say. But...why?

'I can't.'

I waited for him to elaborate, and when he didn't, grew slightly more impatient.

'You...can't?' I implored.

He sighed. 'I can't,' he repeated.

'Have you tried?' I demanded.

He scowled. 'Of course I've tried!'

'And did you try again?'

'Rose...' Dimitri tried.

'Shh.' I stared at Casimir. 'You have no idea how many times I've heard Lissa say she can't do something, until she realises that she can.'

Casimir narrowed his eyes at me, clearly annoyed. 'I've been trying to learn this for years. There are just some skills we can't master, because we aren't compatible with them.'

I realised that he was probably right, but wasn't going to give up that easily. 'What about Sonya? She can do it. Have you contacted her?'

'Yes,' he replied, and hurried on before I could combust. 'She can't find her, Rose.'

'But - why? How is that possible? She found me, she-'

Casimir closed his eyes, pressing thumb and forefinger to his forehead. I shut up.

'I suspect she is wearing silver - and lots of it,' Casimir finally said. 'She has a stash of enhanced silver, she wears it when she has trouble sleeping. It would chase away nightmares. Outside the wards, it keeps the ghosts away.'

'I get all that,' I said. 'But why is the magic keeping other magic out? I don't get it.'

'Because my magic is rooted in telekinesis. I induce her silver with blocking magic, not just healing magic.'

I deflated. 'Well - shit.'

Casimir gazed at me sadly. Then the expressionless mask snapped back on, and he marched back to his students.