The rest of the week passed without incident. We were now back into our usual training routine, and of course, so close to the end of the school year exams were approaching. Every evening after training, Dimitri and Kirk would coach me for my upcoming exams. And I have to say, thanks to their help I was improving. I mean – I wasn't going to be graduating with top academic marks, but they'd be decent enough. In fact, I might even save Baba a library and get into Lehigh on my own merit.
We had dinner with Mom and Baba on Thursday, but it looks like Mom's attempts to find out more about Tasha's threats had been unsuccessful. Still, we'd heard nothing from or about her since then, so hopefully, she'd been all bluster, and that would be the end of it. I get she was angry and disappointed – but there wasn't a lot she could do to hurt me, and if she cared about Dimitri as much as she claimed then why would she intentionally hurt him?
Mom was getting excited about her weekend at Court. She'd decided she needed a new dress for my graduation dance, so intended to hit the shops while she was there. I hoped she'd help Baba find a new shirt or two as well. Some of his were a little flamboyant for my taste.
The graduation dance and clothing had been a big source of contention between Dimitri and me as well. The Promise ceremony would be held in the afternoon, followed by the Graduation dance that evening. He'd agreed to come to the dance as my Guardian, in uniform, whereas I desperately wanted him to wear his suit and come as my date. Alberta had already informed him, Mom, Kirk, and the other Guardians that they'd receive their molnija for the farmhouse attack at the end of the Novice Promise ceremony in the afternoon, so Dimitri would be in uniform for that.
In the end, they couldn't decide how many Strigoi Dimitri had killed at the farmhouse, so he would be getting a zvezda to say he had fought in battle and killed many Strigoi. It was a particular honor, and his first battle star tattoo – his others being for individual kills.
I'd be getting my farmhouse molnija at that ceremony, too. Alberta had explained they'd call me up alphabetically when it was my turn to receive my Promise mark, as per the other Novices, but they'd announce and award the molnija first – giving the usual short speech about the battle, etc. I was then to stand up and display my six new molnija. Then I would sit back down and have my Promise mark added. Finally, I'd stand, and as per the other Novices, I'd have my allocation announced. There had apparently been quite a debate about the 'proper' way to handle the situation, as awarding molnija to a Novice at their Promise ceremony hadn't been done before. But in the end, it had been decided doing it that way would give both the addition of so many molnija and my Promise suitable attention.
With so much being added to my neck, I was glad Lissa would be on hand to heal me afterward. I didn't want to go to the dance with a bandage. Mom had actually asked whether I thought Lissa would mind healing her too. Like me, she wanted to look her best. After quickly checking through the bond, Lissa assured me she'd be happy to heal Mom, Dimitri, Eddie, Kirk, and I. Apparently it took very little energy from her – besides which she said she wanted me to look perfect for the dance and a bandage on my neck did not correspond with her plans.
I also had Lissa to thank for helping me come up with an idea for getting Dimitri and Kirk out of the unit while I prepared my Saturday dinner with Suzanne. She'd been saying how badly Christian felt about the whole Tasha thing and how he was feeling a bit weird around Dimitri as a result. So I'd told Dimitri and Kirk they needed some guy time and hooked them up with Christian, Eddie, and Adrian to play basketball. I sent them on their way at 1 am, with strict instructions not to come back before 5.30 am at the earliest.
Lissa was busy studying for an exam on Monday, so that gave Suzanne and I a few good hours to ourselves to get this dinner happening. She arrived at 1.30, flanked by Mazur Guardians carrying all the ingredients and equipment we'd need. Because we only had a kitchenette, and I'd be feeding five men, three of them Dhampir, plus Lissa and myself, Suzanne said we'd need to cook in stages to get everything ready.
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Fanfiction𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐒 - 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟖 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐲𝐬 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 ▸ After consummating their passion in the cabin, Dimitri and Rose are hopelessly in love. There's four months until she graduates - can they can keep things under wraps until then...