Hope is a Four Letter Word - Complete

Chapter Fifteen

While she'd whined getting up before nightfall to train, and she'd seriously resisted Dimitri's efforts to get her out of bed, once they'd gone past her dorm to pick up her books and clothing and they were in the gym, Rose had to admit it was nice getting back to normal. They'd spent fifteen minutes cuddling and talking quietly in bed, conscious that Adrian would be asleep and it would be rude to wake him before Dimitri finally coaxed Rose up with the promise of a chocolate doughnut after training.

They were doing their warm-up laps around the running track when Dimitri broached a subject that had been bothering him. He wasn't convinced it was the right time, but he was getting more and more worked up about it.

"Yesterday when you were talking to your parents, you mentioned there were certain guardians it wasn't safe to be around. What did you mean?"

"What do you think I meant?" Rose said, refusing to meet his eyes, keeping her own firmly fixed on the lines on the track.

"I thought you meant there were guardians who took an unwholesome interest in children," Dimitri replied, doing his best to keep his fury from his voice. "Did someone hurt you, milaya?"

"No," Rose said quickly, and it sounded like the truth, albeit perhaps there was a bit more to it.

"Did someone try to hurt you or make you feel uncomfortable?" he pressed.

Rose hesitated before replying.

"Not really..."

"But others?"

"Yes, others," Rose said with a sigh. "From four until eight years old I lived in a unit with a few other orphans and a dorm matron. It was lonely and sad, but it was safe. As soon as anyone hit eight, they were moved out into the elementary dorms. It was better for the boys – there were a lot more of them. But as you know, there are only a few dhampir girls in each year, so there was only ever a handful of girls in the dhampir elementary dorms. When I first moved there, a couple of the older girls told me who to avoid and some of the tricks to keep myself safe."

"Like what?"

"Never showering or using the bathroom alone, engaging the inner bolt on my dorm room door and not opening it after lights out under any circumstance unless a female guardian or the dorm matron was there. That was also when I learned to climb out of the dorm windows so I could get out of my dorm room without using the corridor if I needed to."

Dimitri was finding it hard to breathe properly, and it had nothing to do with their run.

"And these guardians – are they still working at the Academy?" he asked quietly, a menacing undertone to his voice. "Can you tell me who they are?"

"They're not here anymore," Rose said with a shudder. "Something happened with one of the other girls, and Alberta found out about it. The elementary dorm for dhampir girls was closed. All the elementary female students stay together in a mixed Moroi/Dhampir wing now. It's much busier, and each room has its own bathroom, so it's safer."

"It sounds like a horrible way to grow up," Dimitri said, never feeling more appreciative of his own loving upbringing. Sure they'd had to endure visits from his abusive father, but during his long absences, home had been a safe place filled with love and people who cared for him.

"It was no picnic," Rose agreed in a tone of voice that let him know this topic was closed.

Abiding by her wishes, Dimitri changed subjects, but not before adding it to the list of things he wanted to speak to Alberta about.

Back in the gym, they went through their drills finishing in time to spar.

"You'll need to take it easy on me, Comrade," Rose smirked, looking at him from beneath her lashes. "I'm feeling a little sore, today."