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Eleven

WE STEPPED OFF THE plane and were immediately hit et, blustery weather Sleet cracked into us, far worse than the flaky white stuff falling back in Montana We were on the East Coast now, or well, close to it The queen’s court was in Pennsylvania, near the Pocono Mountains, a range I had only a vague idea about I kneeren’t too close to any h, which were the only ones I knew in the state

The rune’d landed on was part of the Court’s property, so ere already behind wards It was just like the Acade strip In fact, in many ways, the Royal Court was laid out exactly like the school It hat they told humans the cos, beautiful and ornate, spreading across well-tended grounds adorned with trees and flowers At least, the land would be adorned with theetation was bleak and leafless

We were uardians, all dressed in black pants andcoats, hite shirts underneath They weren’t uniforms exactly, but custouardians wear some sort of nice enseroup looked like somebody’s poor relations Yet I couldn’t help but think we’d be a lot oi

The guardians knew Alberta and Dimitri - honestly, those two knew everybody - and after some formalities, everyone relaxed and becaet in out of the cold, and our escorts led us toward the buildings I knew enough about the Court to know that the largest and s here all official Moroi business was conducted It reseothic palace on the outside, but inside, I suspected it probably looked like any set ofhumans

We weren’t taken there, however We were led to an adjacent building, just as exquisite on the outside, but half the size One of the guardians explained that this here all guests and dignitaries traveling in and out of the Court stayed To ot our own room

Eddie started to protest this, ada he needed to stay with Lissa Dimitri smiled and told hiuardians didn’t need to stay as close to their Moroi In fact, they often separated to do their own things The Court was as heavily warded as the Academy And really, Moroi visitors at the Acadeuardians either It was only for the sake of the field experience that it was being done with us Eddie agreed with soain, I was amazed at his dedication

Alberta spoke briefly and then turned to the rest of us "Decompress for a bit and be ready for dinner in four hours Lissa, the queen wants to see you in an hour"

A jolt of surprise ran through Lissa, and she and I exchanged brief, puzzled looks The last time Lissa had seen the queen, Tatiana had snubbed her and e aith me Both of us wondered what she’d want to see Lissa about now

"Sure," said Lissa "Rose and I’ll be ready"

Alberta shook her head "Rose isn’t going The queen specifically asked for you alone"

Of course she had What interest would the queen have in Vasilisa Dragomir’s shadow? A nasty voice whispered in my head, Expendable, expendable

The dark sentiment startled me, and I shoved it aside I went tofor the next four hours sounded fantastic The rest of the roo, with sleek black tables and white leather furniture I was kind of afraid to sit on it Ironically, despite how nice it all was, the place wasn’t as decked out as the ski resort that we’d stay in over the holidays I guessed when you came to the Royal Court, you came for business, not a vacation

I had just sprawled on the leather couch and turned on the TV when I felt Lissa in my e itself and the content Usually our bond was all about feelings and impressions Specific requests like this were rare

I got up and left the roo to the one next door Lissa opened the door

"What, you couldn’t have co like she genuinely rouchy around someone so nice "I just didn’t have the ti to decide what to wear"

Her suitcase was already open on the bed, with things hung up in the closet Unlike me, she’d come prepared for every occasion, formal and casual alike I lay down on the couch Hers was plush velvet, not leather

"Wear the print blouse with the black slacks," I told her "Not a dress"

"Why not a dress?"

"Because you don’t want to look like you’re groveling"

"This is the queen, Rose Dressing up is showing respect, not groveling"

"If you say so"

But Lissa wore the outfit I suggested anyway She talked toready, and I watched with envy as she applied makeup I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed cosmetics myself When she and I had lived with hu every day Now, there never seeh time - or any reason I was always in some kind of scuffle that made makeup pointless and ruined it anyway The most I could do was to slather s - like I was putting on a mask - yet by the time I faced the cold weather and other harsh conditions, I was always surprised to see my skin had sucked all the ret shot through me that I’d rarely have any opportunities to do this for the rest of my life Lissa would spend most of her days dressed up, out at royal functions No one would noticethat until this last year, I’d always been the one as always noticed

"Why do you think she wants to see me?" Lissa asked

"Maybe to explain e’re here"

"Maybe"

Unease filled Lissa, despite her calm exterior She still hadn’t entirely recovered from the queen’s brutal hu suddenly seeh Iuardian I was also her best friend, and we hadn’t talked veryto be afraid of, Liss You haven’t done anything wrong And really, you’ve been doing everything right Your grades are perfect Your behavior’s perfect Remember all those people you iet on you about"

"You shouldn’t say that," said Lissa automatically She applied mascara to her eyelashes, studied them, and then added another coat

"Just call ’erief, then it’s just going to be because she’s afraid of you"

Lissa laughed "Why would she be afraid of me?"

"Because people are drawn to you, and people like her don’t like it when others steal all the attention" I was a bit astonished at hoise I sounded "Plus, you’re the last Dragoht Who’s she? Just another Ivashkov There are a ton of theuys are like Adrian and have all sorts of illegitimate children"

"Adrian doesn’t have any children"

"That we know of," I said mysteriously

She snickered and stepped back from the mirror, pleased with her face "Why are you always so ave her a look ofup for Adrian now? Whatever happened to you warning me to stay away fro out with him - and that wasn’t even by olden chain out of her suitcase and tried to fasten it around her neck "Well, yeahI didn’t really know him then He’s not so bad And it’s true I , but I also think soerated"

"I don’t," I said, jued to fasten the chain, so I took it and put the clasp together for her

"Thanks," she said, running her hands over the necklace "I think Adrian really likes you Like, in a wanting-to-be-serious way"

I shook et-the-clothes-off-the-cute-dhampir way"

"I don’t believe that"

"That’s because you believe the best about everyone"

She looked skeptical as she began brushing her hair smooth over her shoulders "I don’t know about that either But I do think he’s not as bad as you think I know it hasn’t been that long since Mason, but you should think about going out with someone else"

"Wear your hair up" I handed her a barrette fro out You know that"

"Yeah Well, I guess that’s h school’s not over yet See fun"

Fun It was ironic Months ago, I’d argued with Diuardian-in-training, I had to watch reed it wasn’t fair that I couldn’t do the kinds of things other girls e could, but that that was the price I paid for , I started to see Dimitri’s point - to such an extent that he’d actually hinted I shouldn’t try to limit myself that irl fro fun I was only a couple sdancesboyfriendswhat did theyat the Acadeuardian

"I don’t really think I need a boyfriend to coh school experience," I told her

"I don’t think you do either," she agreed, tugging her ponytail straight "But you used to flirt and go out sometimes I feel like it’d just be nice for you to do a little of that It’s not like you’d have to have anything serious with Adrian"

"Well, you won’t get any argu he wants is anything serious, that’s the proble to some of the stories, he’s very serious I heard the other day that you were engaged Someone else said that he’d been disowned because he told his dad he’d never love anyone else"

"Ahhhh" There was really no other adequate response to all these silly ru is that the same stories are all over the place at the ele "Why does this stuff keep happening to me?"

She walked over to the couch and looked down at me "Because you’re awesome, and everyone loves you"

"Nah You’re the one everyone loves"

"Well, then, I guess we’re both awesome and loveable And one of these days" - a uy you love back"