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The Promise of the Moroi	By : TarnishedArmour Category: S through Z > Vampire Academy Views: 3209 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own or have rights to Vampire Acad., characters, etc. and I make no profit from this story; VA belongs to R. Mead & the publisher. You know that, I know that, the rock over there knows it, fish in the sea and birds in th

Chapter List
- 1-Hurry
- 2-Revelations
- 3-Then.
- 4-Now.
- 5-Then.
- 6-Now.
- 7-Returned
- 6
- 7
As they crossed the border of the park, Dimitri woke Svetlana. “A few more minutes now. How do you feel?”
“Better,” she murmured. The dark circles under he eyes had faded, and the blue of her eyes seemed deeper now, not the careful surface-calm that she had been holding on to at the house. He nodded.
Sergei pulled to a stop where a Subaru station wagon--it could generously be called a low-slung SUV, if one were perhaps drunk--waited. A young woman stepped out and Dimitri opened the door.
“I won’t be long,” he told them. “Please, wait here.”
A few long strides and he was next to the Alchemist Sydney Sage.
“What is it, Belikov?” she asked, her voice strained. It was clear that she was exhausted, irritated, and, he looked over to the car, considering the company she had with her, it was entirely understandable.
“You brought all of them with you?” he asked mildly. He did not want many witnesses for this, and the reasons he had were, in his own mind, quite good. The fewer people who knew, the fewer could tell anyone at Court, which included the Szelsky Princess, Arianna, who was prickly at the best of times. Somehow, she would find this attack the fault of the Queen, which would irritate Rose. Irritating Rose was the best way he knew that people were able to make his own life miserable, at least until he could get Rose alone and remind her that she had other things to think about than the opinions of a handful of royal Moroi jackasses. At Sydney’s obviously irritated glare, he continued with the business at hand. “I need Adrian to use this stake,” he withdrew a stake Lissa had charmed with spirit, just in case she was nearby when a Strigoi attacked and she could return him to being Moroi, “on the Strigoi behind the wheel.”
Dimitri watched in amusement as the nearly unflappable Alchemist’s jaw actually dropped. She looked like she was going to protest for a minute, then managed a weak, “Wait here.” Before turning and walking back to the car. There was a tense moment as she opened the door and got into the driver’s seat again, a moment where Dimitri wasn’t certain she wouldn’t turn the key and leave him there. If that was the case, Sergei would die. Long minutes passed while Sydney was speaking to the group.
As she spoke, he could almost imagine what she was saying. He needs help staking a Strigoi with a spirit-stake. Adrian, that’s your job. Adrian shook his head and said something in protest, probably something about wanting to finish his drink and cigarette and then fuck the nearest Moroi or damphir woman--no, Jill was in the car. So he was leave it at getting drunk and meeting a woman. He was more circumspect around Jill than not. The others said something quickly, various protests, he was certain; Sydney replied, and Adrian heaved a sigh that was visible even from several yards away. He was beginning to understand why Rose did this so much. It was better imagining the conversation than sitting here waiting for something strange to happen. Well, stranger than this already was, which would take some doing. For a brief moment, he was thankful that Rose was not there. If she were, stranger would be guaranteed. He was about at his limit for the day, asking an Alchemist and a drunk to stake an old friend who’d turned Strigoi while said old friend’s wife watched…yes, that was more than sufficient.
Adrian opened the door and got out of the car, Sydney mirroring the actions on her side. Eddie, the damphir guardian, moved up into the driver’s seat and started the engine.
Dimitri saw them coming and pulled the spirit-charmed stake from its hiding place under his duster. He lifted the stake and said, when the pair got close enough, “You remember how to use this?”
Adrian nodded. “After Sonya, it is impossible to forget.” The gravity of his voice, the shadow in his eyes told Dimitri more than mere words ever could. No, Adrian could not forget turning the former teacher back to Moroi, no more than Dimitri could foget being Strigoi. As the younger man looked toward the SUV, something in his expression indicated discomfort that was not caused by the idea of staking a Strigoi and returning him to Moroi. He ignored this for a moment and watched as Eddie turned the car, as if to begin driving away.
“Taking precautions?” he murmured to the pair.
“It seemed more prudent this way. Jailbait isn’t expendable. She’s the only other Dragomir. I’m an Ivashkov. Easily replaced.” The look Sydney shot this nonchalant response was blistering. The bland face and intense green eyes that looked down at her, though, there was something there.
“You aren’t expendable,” Sydney replied fiercly. “Jill needs you.” Something in her voice indicated more than Jill--no. Surely not. Not the little Alchemist and the Moroi royal. If ever there were star-cross lovers…the great ones, Romeo and Juliet, Tristan and Isolde--they would look like a mild disagreement if the families of these two ever found out. This had to end quickly, or it would become some kind of soap opera for the pleasure of none and the calming skills of one tired, irritated, emotionally involved damphir guardian. He motioned for the couple in the SUV to join them. The human and lordling were too busy preparing to argue for a good long time.
A dark look, a temper that Dimitri had come to recognize as frustrated and dark emotions brought on by the use of spirit, shadowed the younger man’s features. That was an expression he knew well. Lissa wore it often when Christian or Rose pushed too far. His Roza was good at getting that look from those she loved. Another moment and they would be embroiled in an argument that could last for days.
“He’s waiting,” Dimitri interrupted, motioning to the Strigoi standing silently next to Svetlana. “Are you sober?” Dimitri added, pushing the young royal just enough to catch his attention.
In response, Adrian glared at him, took the offered stake, snatched it, and stalked over to where Sergei stood with his arm around Svetlana’s shoulders and hers wrapped around his waist. It was a picture of affection, however odd that seemed coming from Strigoi. He turned back to the little Alchemist.
“He frustrates you,” Dimitri noted, a way in to a conversation she would avoid otherwise. He carefully moved his arm and wrist, concealing a very specific motion form the view of all there, even Sergei.
“You have no idea,” she grumbled in reply. “This will cure him?” The question was obviously referring to Sergei, though it was tempting to tell her that nothing could ever cure Adrian Ivashkov of being Adrian. He managed to not say such a callous thing to the young woman, knowing that there was more in that statement of frustration than he could pursue at the moment.
“Completely.” He paused. “Take care of Adrian. He won’t be able to drive tonight, and it’s not safe here. Too many open sightlines.”
“Adrian is a big boy,” Sydney began, the idea of caring for him obviously not on her list of things to consider for the night. What had happened to change things so drastically in the past three months? It wasn’t the attack by the rogue Alchemists--that had been over a year ago, and things were just fine when he’d returned to Court, and the four times he’d returned to Arizona over the past year.
“Love is too precious to waste, Alchemist Sage,” he said, carefully formal while dispensing what Rose called his Zen-master-damphir-warrior crap. “If there is nothing you take from all you have seen, even if you still believe all of us incorrigibly evil, take that, at least. He gestured to the way Sergei and Svetlana still held one another, though one should be fighting for her life and the other trying to kill them all. As they watched, Adrian moved closer, his movements slower than the initial irritated pace. “It is love that has kept him from killing her--and any of us, as well--love that let her do as needed to survive life with a Strigoi without being changed. It is love that led Rose to find me, to fight me, and ultimately to find the cure for me. It is love that made Lissa want to try to save me.” He looked down at her again. “It is love that kept Adrian sober enough to help us tonight, that makes him try to be a better man. Do not throw something so powerful away.”
“Love won’t help in a re-education center,” she replied stiffly.
“No,” he gave her a small half-smile, “but what makes you think you would remain there? Remember: you are loved, and by some powerful, determined people.”
Sydney snorted. “Amor omnia vincent? I never took you as a romantic, Belikov.”
He merely smiled in return, saying “I never took you for a fool, Sage.” He then turned to watch as Adrian stood before Sergei and Svetlana, all confidence and temper gone in the face of what would ordinarily be a real threat. “Do not push his love away,” Dimitri repeated, a portion of his advice repeated. He watched the scene carefully now. “Do not deny your own. I promise you, the worst of all is the denial of love when it is so strong between you.”
“The worst of all is an Alchemist Re-education Center,” Sydney replied dryly. The scent of true fear came to him then. She feared those places, more even than the threat of Strigoi. More than the bite. She did not deny she loved, though, and that was the hardest thing to stop doing. She paused. “You would protect me?” It was an honest question, one she didn’t expect him to answer. He indulged his desire to do the unexpected.
“Yes.” At her surprised look, he continued. “Rose thinks highly of you. You are protecting Jill. I know what you’ve risked in the past to help us. You are a good woman, and stronger than you think. Do not let something as trivial as perceived morality based on mythology and an ancient version of science fool you into thinking a real, lasting love can be wrong.” He waited a beat, then asked, “Do you truly think you would be long in such a place?” he asked curiously, looking away from the next moments, the flash of magic that would ruin night-vision and any and all hope of fighting if it were necessary. It would happen any time now. He knew the brightness of the spirit-staking well. He did not want to be blinded, as everyone else would be. “You know Rose and Lissa. Do you think that one they consider under their aegis would be permitted to stay in such a place?”
Sydney frowned and shook her head. “You don’t know the Alchemists.”
“You do not remember Rose.” He looked down at her, not realizing how intense his own expression was. “Or me.”
She was about to reply when it happened. The world lit up like a nuclear explosion, the light hung in the air for a long moment, then blinked away. Two soft thuds indicated where both Moroi and former Strigoi fell to the ground, unable to support themselves in the wake of such extreme expenditure of power and the stress of the change.
Sydney cried out in pain from the blinding flash, taking the worst of it as Dimitri was looking down and away. His night-vision was more important than anything else, especially if Sergei had decided to renege on his promise. Thankfully, he hadn’t, and the second stake that Dimitri carried, one not available for a spirit-user’s special magic, had been carefully concealed next to his thigh the entire time. Another movement, not so carefully concealed, returned the stake to its proper position. With one arm around Sydney, he walked over to the ungainly sprawl of two men and the blinded woman.
“Seryi?” he asked softly.
“Da?” came the dazed answer. Then the man saw his wife sprawled on the ground, clutching at her eyes, and launched himself toward her with a cry. “Svetochka?! What’s wrong? Answer me, beloved!”
“Ow,” came the only response to the question. It was Adrian, still sprawled on the ground, unmoving. The gleam of silver in his hand was the only indication that the Moroi was drained by using his magic and not drunk to the point of passing out. Again. Dimitri had known the playboy longer than the others, excepting only Sergei and Svetlana. Knowing the playboy and appreciating him as a slowly-budding responsible adult, well, it was a process, and not one quickly completed. He leaned down to check on the young royal, letting Sergei and Svetlana reacquaint themselves without interference.
“Thank you,” he said simply.
“You’re welcome,” Adrian replied formally. Even though he addressed Dimitri, his eyes were glued to the young Alchemist. He opened his mouth to speak again, but the blare of a horn and bright lights of the returning station wagon halted the care of the young prince. The sudden turn, braking, and exit of the of Jill’s damphir guardian on high alert just made things more complicated. Dimitri moved without conscious thought. There was a threat. It must be met, even if it was not true threat.
“Stop!” Dimitri said, interposing between the damphir and his target. Dimitri wasn’t certain if it was Sergei or Adrian, but he wasn’t inclined to find out. In intercepting the tough damphir, he missed the lighter, more delicate, and surprisingly quick young princess. Dimitri bit back a curse. Now was not the time to start snapping at royalty simply because they couldn’t--wait. She was heading to Adrian. Frantic. Worried. Crying? Yes, crying. Something was eating at his memory, something important. Rose had mentioned the bond, how it had seemed to short-circuit after Lissa had brought him back.
Understanding flooded through him. The princess was worried about her bondmate. She was shadow-kissed, as Rose had been--and Adrian was her bondmate. Sydney and Jill fussed over Adrian while Svetlana cooed and petted a contrite and apologetic Sergei. Once again, it was up to the guardians to make the entire damned scene make sense.
Why couldn’t the royals use some of their wealth to purchase some sense? Even Lissa, grounded as she was, was guilty of the same dramatic tendencies. Rose was infected through constant exposure to Lissa, though perhaps that wasn’t the fairest assessment of the situation. Without Lissa’s dramatic extremes, she would not have discovered a way to bring back Rose, and his life would be utterly empty. True, he never would have become Strigoi, but he never would have been changed back, either, and his friends would have been doomed to nothing but death and pain.
“What the hell is going on?” Eddie ground out, trying to shove by Dimitri.
“Stand down.” Dimitri sighed. “Adrian is drained, Jill’s bond will come back just as strong, but it overloaded with the amount of spirit he had to use to change Sergei back from Strigoi to Moroi. Sergei and his wife--not Strigoi at any time--called me earlier today, before dawn. I came out here, got in touch with Sydney, and this is the rest.” He noticed Angelina, the other guardian and one not from Court, behind the wheel. “You let her drive?”
“Only in an emergency.” Eddie turned and shook his head to the girl in the car. Obviously, this was no longer an emergency. “You sure he changed back?”
“Yes. It was Adrian who changed Sonya Karp, wasn’t it?” The young Moroi had met Rose at Sonya’s home while they were on the run with Victor Dashkov and Robert Daru. Dimitri had missed the scene because he’d taken Robert and Victor to hotwire another car in an effort to stay ahead of the guardians that hunted them. Rose had managed--barely--to subdue their former teacher and Adrian, in a moment of what was probably sheer idiocy--it was hard to give the man credit for being brave when all he had seemed to do was run away from his problems by drinking excessively--had driven a spirit-charmed stake through the woman’s heart. Rose had been knocked out, Sonya and Adrian had taken over two days to recover, and Adrian made his way back to Court as though he’d been out on a bender.
Eddie nodded. “He wasn’t bonded to Jailbait at the time, though.”
“Ah. He didn’t warn her.” Figured. Adrian did tend to jump first and think later, though he had heard and seen several small changes to that method of living lately.
Eddie snorted. “He didn’t have time. Sydney told us what was needed, he threatened to walk back to Arizona, and Jill was the one who said he couldn’t refuse to do it. He didn’t say anything else, just got out of the car, and you know the rest.”
What a pity he’d been so very wrong about the conversation, and, yet, so very right.
“You know he loves the Alchemist.” It was a warning, of sorts.
“And she’s crazy about him, even if she won’t admit it,” Eddie replied. He was watching the two women with Adrian carefully. “Looks like I’ll have to carry him back to the car.” Not the first time that had happened, obviously.
“He’s lighter than Sergei,” Dimitri noted, motioning to the couple a few feet away from the trio, Svetlana on her knees and struggling to hold Sergei upright. He saw when Eddie noted the size of the returned Moroi royal.
“Need help? I’ll take his feet.” The lighter tone said it all. Danger averted; nothing to worry about until they were back on the road.
Dimitri flashed him a grin filled with laughter that couldn’t come out now, if ever. “We may need a crowbar first.” The Szelskys had held on tightly, and it would be interesting trying to part them. From here, he could hear Svetlana’s continued shushings and Sergei’s murmurs of apology.
Eddie grimaced in return. Dimitri could understand the look. At least it was better than trying to get Adrian to the car with Jill and Sydney so close.
“These two first, then your group.”
“Agreed.”
With that, the two guardians walked over and began the process of peeling apart the lovers long enough to load them back in the car. Fortunately, Svetlana hadn’t been raised around royal drama, so she hadn’t been taught how to draw out a scene like this and milk it until it begged for mercy. For that, Dimitri was grateful. Eddie seemed surprised at her sensible movements, moves that helped them lift Sergei and shoulder his weight enough to get him to the car, actual carrying by shoulders and ankles not required. Svetlana crawled in the back, and Sergei crawled right after her, snuggling close and apologizing still in his native Russian. Thankfully Eddie didn’t seem to speak Russian, so he didn’t have to explain what all of those things meant and that Strigoi really couldn’t have sex, despite what seemed to have happened here.
It took considerably longer to get the other three in the car, and no matter how much Sydney chivvied Adrian along, Jill had somehow acquired the royal knack of dragging out the scene.
Once again, Dimitri couldn’t help but be thankful he was assigned to Christian and his distinct lack of desire to associate with large numbers of people at any time for any reason. He let Sydney herd the others into the car while Eddie reclined the front seat for Adrian, who would not be able to sit up for some time yet. As they waited, Dimitri decided to help the young man a bit.
“She is frightened,” he murmured into Adrian’s ear in quiet Romanian. He knew the young royal had been required to learn the ancient language, the alternate language, of the Court. “Do not give up on her.”
“I know, and I won’t,” replied the younger man. “Take care of Rose.”
“As much as she’ll let me,” he replied, face softening with the mention of his beloved. It was clear the request was that of a friend, not a would-be lover. Once, it would have been spat out at him; now, it was a pleasant request that he fully intended to honour.
With Adrian in the front seat and comfortably reclining, Jill in the middle of the back seat, and the guardians on either side, Dimitri walked around the car, ostensibly for a word of advice regarding their return trip. He stopped her before she got into place and murmured to the young woman, hoping to help her more than anything else.
“Do not turn him away because of your own fear, Sage,” Dimtri said, his voice deadly earnest. “I know what it is to live that life, and Adrian is not as strong as Rose. Not yet.”
“Is anyone as strong as Rose?” she countered, not wanting to hear what he was saying. Dimitri took her shoulders and shook her once, willing her to understand.
“He is not that strong yet,” he bit out, irritated with her willful obstinacy. “He is much better now than he was, and it is you who have made the difference. Do not throw out love because you are afraid. Accept what is and you will be able to deal with what comes.”
“It’s not that easy,” she whispered, tears coming to her eyes.
“It is, but it will hurt. There is no gain, not one this great, without loss.” He paused and let that sink in. “But what will you lose, Sydney?” The quiet intensity of his voice seemed to have captured his attention. “Is something so great only to be measured by loss?”
She took a deep breath and nodded once. “I’ll think about it.”
Dimitri let her go. If Sydney Sage promised to think about something, it would be thoroughly considered, parsed, analyzed, permutated, extrapolated, folded, spindled, and mutilated before being accepted or denied. It was a different way than he lived, but not everyone was wired to follow instinct and passion as he was. As Rose was. He turned away and started walking to the SUV, the sight of Svetlana’s red hair bleached dark in the silver light of the moon.
As they were.
=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+
- 6
- 7
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The Promise of the Moroi