Shadow Rider (Vampire Academy Fanfic)

Chapter 50 - Rose

Yesterday's meeting had been concluded with...general agreement. Lissa, ever mindful of the other royals, not to mention the entirety of her people, wanted to take the compromising approach. Casimir, however, was of the mind that we were well beyond the time for compromise. We were smack in the middle of ongoing war, he insisted, a war that was rapidly coming to its unavoidable battle. Lissa wanted a well prepared defence for when the nightly battle came to us, whereas Casimir wanted to take the battle to them, during daytime.

The difference of opinion however had stalled the war preparations altogether, and Lissa refused to revisit them before she had gathered the opinion of all parties concerned: her confidantes, the royal representatives, and lastly, the public voice. Casimir, however, had lost the only person he had to confer with. Pride kept him from calling on Natia, who no doubt remained forcefully ignorant of his ongoing struggle.

I wondered idly how long this tension would go on. I didn't want a scene breaking out between us - we needed to stick close together now. At the same time, I fully supported the idea of Natia getting some private time. That it was spent with Ash instead of Casimir, I gathered, was pure coincidence. The best I could do was keep Casimir distracted and busy with the task at hand. I employed Dimitri's help in the matter. Casimir saw right through my over-casual attitude but was too nice to object to my presence. He was wary of Dimitri, as most people tend to be, but Dimitri could be charming and talkative when the situation called for it, and helped me as best as he could.

We fought together, ate together, discussed and debated together, and we even accompanied Casimir to his magic classes. Unfortunately, Jenny was there, which ramped up the tension considerably.

Determined to put on a good face, Jenny worked hard to appear a nonchalant magic-hungry student, succumbing almost entirely to Mia's administrations. It was alternatingly pitiful and comical to watch, Jenny being more suited to academic work. Still, she had heeded my advice, and for that I was grateful.

Casimir, on the other hand, wasn't dealing with the situation as gracefully. He avoided Jenny altogether, conducting his lessons with stiff forwardness instead of his usual passionate charm. Still, it conveyed a sort of grave necessity to the class, signifying to the students just how dangerous the times were, and how pivotal their devotion was to the struggle.

I didn't expect Natia to show up for the advance training class, so Dimitri and I stepped in as mentors. We adopted a similar attitude to Casimir's, trying to instill a sense of urgency in the guardians. But it wasn't necessary. Guardians, unlike the Moroi, already knew how to assess danger and adapt to it. Still, we fought harder and better than we ever had before.

Utterly exhausted, Dimitri and I made our way to the dhampir cafeteria to grab a bite to eat. There we joined a table with Casimir, Mia and Ambrose. Mia spoke animatedly with Casimir, who somewhat mutedly nodded along. Ambrose was his usual cheerful self - he smiled brightly when he saw Dimitri and I approach.

'Hoy!' he exclaimed, drawing out a chair for me. Dimitri nodded at them all before walking up to the food station, ordering a late breakfast for the both of us. I stretched laboriously, my joints popping pleasantly.

'Thorough session, was it?' Mia asked, eyeing my bruised hands.

'Oh, you bet,' I said, launching into a descriptive of just what we had been doing, knowing that Mia was into all that stuff. About halfway through Mia's head snapped up with attention, staring with alarm at something behind me. Casimir, who was sitting beside me, went frigid in his chair, as if he could sense who was behind him.

I turned around, expecting an army of Strigoi or guardian leader Sergei, or hell, even Headmistress Kirova. What I did not expect to hear was Natia's exuberant voice, accompanied by her glittering eyes, her arm casually linked with Ash's. And Ash! Vibrant and exalted, like he'd just won the lottery. All of us were thunderstruck, mouths agape with shock, staring as the duo progressed toward the food station. They approached Dimitri, exchanging pleasantries with him. Dimitri, naturally, was his usual pokerface self, but his eyes flickered to Casimir, then met mine briefly.

Surprised as everyone were to see Thanatia in this state of self-indulgence, I doubted they really understood the severity of the situation. So when Casimir viciously shoved back his chair, stomping angrily out of the room, everyone but me and Dimitri were visibly confused.

'What-' Mia began, turning to me for an explanation. But I wasn't listening to her. I was looking at Natia. I didn't know what I expected to see in her expression. Grief? Regret? Loss? Instead, her expression could only be described as haughty - she looked downright irritated by Casimir's reaction.

She'd been looking at him as he disappeared from the cafeteria, but when she turned back to Ash her face transformed; the hostility subsided, and she grinned at him reassuringly. Ash, not being the kind to dwell on the bad, took his queue and resumed his happy tirade. They ordered food, but made no move to join the rest of us at the central table in the cafeteria. Instead, Ash maneuvered them toward the windows, where they sat close together at a table for two.

Clearly, Natia had made her choice. What the repercussions now would be, I could only begin to guess. I had to wonder, with a sense of terrible foreboding, if she really had made the right choice.

The situation between Lissa, Dimitri, Christian and I had been delicate enough during school, and that had mostly been because of circumstances and jealousy. Now imagine the same situation, but with bond-mates that not only were of the opposite sex, but clearly had feelings for each other.

...Yep. I ordered a second doughnut.