A month outside the gates (a VA fanfic)ON HOLD

Chapter 71

RPOV

When Lissa returned from Lehigh, the baby shower was the first thing she demanded occur. And so, the next day, Dimitri and I were being showered in gifts. Too many and all of which were far too expensive.

"That's why Tatiana made you go to Lehigh!" I exclaimed when she finally told me why she'd revoked her gap year. She was being forced to shift it. To next year. "And how did you keep it from me for so long?"

Lissa laughed. "Both too busy to worry about it so much."

I groaned and collapsed on my bed; Lissa sat beside me. "You're killing me here," I whined. "And I never thought Christian had it in him." Or Tatiana would be so hard-nosed about scheduling of Lissa's studies. Though Lissa's easy agreement was not surprising at all.

Two days later, Christmas was upon us. I had too many Royal functions to attend for my comfort. Not to mention, I had to host at least one.... The dinner the guardians at Court threw was well worth attending. They had adjusted to still treating me like one of their own by now. Many strong opinions, theories, and desires were voiced and I listened intently. The millisecond I was out the door, my phone was in my hand and I was tapping away, note-taking, while Dimitri kept one arm firmly wrapped around my waist and guided me through the underground tunnel network Tatiana had given me permission to use. I didn't like taking advantage of the privilege, but right now, while being so heavily pregnant and exhausted, I needed to get home without the risk of interruptions or intense gazes.

Once New Years had passed with a quiet family do, Dimitri and I decided to exchange all baby shower and Christmas gifts bar Lissa's, the rest of my group's, and Ariana and Priscilla's. Which unfortunately also meant many refunds to add to the Mazur royal family fortune. I had no need for the excessive bank account size. Besides, Dimitri and I didn't want to bring up our children in the lap of luxury as other royals so insisted we do.

Lissa left to return to Lehigh in the second week of January. She promised to return to Court as often as possible. She was adamant she would be around for the birth of the twins. And there was also no way she was going to be away for my nineteenth birthday, apparently.

As soon as she left, I was swept into a whirlwind of Council meetings I did not want to attend. But I could not ignore the increasing rate Strigoi numbers were expanding. This was why I was on Council in the first place. But did I even have the brains to come up with some kind of solution that would simultaneously stop more furore from arising?

"You have never been so uncertain of yourself, Roza," sighed Dimitri when he joined me in my rose-scented bubble bath.

"Of course I haven't! I'm out of my depth here, Dimitri. I'm struggling for even part of an idea, let alone an ideal but insane one that has a hope in hell of succeeding while also appeasing all of Council and the general populace." I moaned in delight while Dimitri gently massaged my shoulders and kissed my neck.

"Then think about Guardian numbers instead. You only just blocked lowering the graduation age; it won't take much for a re-vote to swing the other way."

"I know, I know.... If only there was a way to change their minds and increase numbers while also respecting the desires of other dhampir women to create a family, just like we're doing."

"Maybe..."

"Mmmhmm?"

I felt Dimitri smile against my shoulder blade. "What do you think about crèches? I know Mama and Yeva would have loved to continue guarding if they were also able to create a family at the same time.... I don't know.... What if you could create family-friendly parts of Academy campuses? You know the old log cabins? Re-activate them. Transform them into mini-homes that also work as a front-line defence? Then, if more female guardians and more girls graduate then start having kids, the other guardians could be reshuffled back into the field? And to quieten the Moroi who want larger communes or more of them, simply combine Academies. More students in one location, hopefully more dhampir women and girls staying around while having kids. Again, reshuffle the main active promised guardians out into the field."

"What about the old campus? The teachers out of jobs? Both dhampir and Moroi?" I couldn't see it working the way Dimitri could.

"The Guardians would be returned to the field as standard personal guardians. While the Moroi teachers would pick up the extra work because of the many transferred students."

I leaned back into his hard but comfortable chest and closed my eyes while sighing. "Again, what about the abandoned campuses?"

"Simple, those Moroi who want new communes, almost cities, can move in. That way we already have the locations and won't waste time researching or building. Shut that faction up quicker."

I snuggled into him while considering his suggestions. "We have no evidence it will work."

"We have no evidence it won't, Roza. And once that faction is quieter, you can work on the encouragement of offensive magic re-introduction. Because it will never be an answer to lower the dhampir graduation age and social standing."

"We don't have time to work on all that before getting around to offensively attacking Strigoi," I muttered in annoyance at the hopeless feeling I was getting. It was too much for me to deal with all this on top of adjusting to being royal and pregnant with purebred twins that had their parents' combined strength.

"What does Princess Mazur suggest?" sneered Prince Ivashkov. Upstart asshole, as usual. The look in his eyes told me he expected me to be as lacking in ideas as every previous meeting. Not today. I was seriously considering running with a few of Dimitri's ideas and testing them out on Council right now.

"We think that dealing with this issue involves urgently dealing with a collection of related issues. In particular, the fall in Guardian numbers and quieting the faction of those wanting new, larger Moroi residencies, such as Court and Academies...." I took a few moments to assess the reaction of my peers. I had all my supporters hooked and a few of my opposition intrigued. "We feel it may be advantageous to blend sibling Academies—transfer students and pool resources... but one condition of this this, the way to get the most out of the idea, is to offer a treaty with the dhampir women who sacrifice duty for family. All the old watch post cabins at all Academies are in disrepair from disuse. If we offered them on-campus support to create families while also relieving other guardians from ward shifts, then some of those guardians could return to the field...." I couldn't believe how impassioned I had become about this idea and how wholeheartedly I desired for it to be up-taken and successful.

"And those wanting new compounds?" prompted Tatiana.

"They move into the cleared campuses and share their guardians and magic for wards. Again, a number should be returned into the field. These campuses aren't so far from human cities that all interactions would be cut-off. Also, it would also reduce human suspicion and investigation if towns—new 'schools'—weren't rapidly appearing."

"What about reducing Strigoi numbers?" Ugh. Lazar could be more arrogant and ignorant than Prince Ivashkov sometimes.

"It reduces them by reducing the number of Moroi choosing to turn because they feel helpless, and the number of guardians forcibly turned. There's nothing we can do about the humans who survive their servitude and are successfully turned instead of being Strigoi dinner."