Into the Ether - Complete

Spring, When New Things Grow: Part 10

The last two weeks had been the worst of my life. Every time I closed my eyes, it was with the fervent hope that I'd wake to find this whole thing had been a nightmare and that in reality, I was running my customary five minutes late to morning training with my Russian God. But I'd wake, and the reality was the same. I was here. And Dimitri wasn't.

After my sacrilegious comments in Church on Sunday, Alberta had decided I was not yet well enough to return to classes, so on Monday I'd been taken down to spend the day under the keen observation of Dr. Olendzki and staff. Dr. Olendzki had wanted to do some tests to try and get to the bottom of how two Dhampir had managed to conceive, so I sat there being prodded and poked all day. She explained she'd be sending samples to a lab under a fictitious name, requesting a DNA workup to see whether there were any anomalies.

After a day in the infirmary, I decided I needed to return to classes – if not for my grades then for my sanity. I spoke with Alberta, and she reluctantly agreed. She stipulated that an announcement needed to be made about Dimitri, but I knew it would stir up speculation once again, so after some pleading, she agreed to hold off until the end of the week. We decided that if Kirova made an announcement on Friday just before the end of classes, by Monday, the initial gossip should have abated. Alberta also told me Guardian Schoenberg was due back on campus that weekend and would be staying for the week assessing me for my combat training.

"Although he's semi-retired he's still head of the Examination Board, so he can approve any modification or pass you entirely at his discretion. I know you'll be fifteen weeks this weekend, and you're allowed to train until you're twenty, but all your instructors say you're ready and it's only going to get harder the further into your pregnancy we leave it. I also thought if Guardian Schoenberg were here assessing you, it would protect you from the worst of the gossip in the week after we make the announcement about Dimitri," she explained kindly. She was right. Guardian Schoenberg was respected and feared, and not only amongst the Dhampir community. It would be a rare Moroi indeed who'd risk provoking his displeasure.

So I limped through four days of classes, not saying a word unless spoken to, until Friday afternoon when I ditched my final lesson for the week, Mason, Eddie, and Celeste joining me in my dorm room. At 3.15 am exactly, the campus PA crackled into life, Kirova's voice making the sad announcement that Guardian Dimitri Belikov, one of the school's former Guardians, had been sent on a mission and was missing believed turned.

As she spoke I sat on my bed, eyes closed, playing with the stakes they'd sent back to me. It was a poor exchange. I'd sent them the man I loved, and all they'd returned to me were two lengths of polished silver. I ran my thumb over where his name was etched near the hilt. I wished he'd not had them engraved because then I'd be able to believe that maybe, just maybe, he was still alive. But there's no way Dimitri would ever relinquish his stakes willingly, so it was further proof that yes, he was gone.

Guardian Schoenberg arrived early on the Saturday, and Celeste and I spent almost the entire weekend in the gym with him, leaving only to visit the cafeteria and sleep. Alberta had been right about one thing – not a single student, Novice or Moroi, dared approach while I sat silently eating at the table opposite Celeste, Schoenberg and occasionally other Guardians listening to them converse.

Even in my depressed state, I would have had to have been blind not to notice the difference in Celeste. Like me, she usually chose comfort over style when it came to working out, but over the weekend she was wearing her nicest gym gear and even a little bit of waterproof makeup to our sessions. Being the start of March, the weather was still a little chilly, but that didn't stop Celeste wearing her tiniest shorts and a crop top to spar with me on Sunday. With her toned Guardian body, she looked hot, and I wondered whether Guardian Schoenberg had any idea she was dressing in next to nothing for his benefit. After one particularly full on tussle, I thought I caught him looking at her admiringly, but it was hard to know whether he was admiring her technique or whether he was instead paying attention to the way her full breasts were jiggling in the tiny crop top as she panted for breath after our fight.