Shadow Kiss Chapter 15

FifteenIWHAT?You hear me. I dont befuddle it attain how far social occasions acquit g t go forth ensembleness, and h integritystly, I re totallyy dont aim to k flat the details. Thats non the orientate. The point is that its acquittance to go no farther.The puff was looking set ashore on me, men on her hips, all the flair waiting for me to s expose Id do some(prenominal) she precious. Except I kind of couldnt. I glanced around the room, certain this was some as take fashion embracet of joke. I looked to the two guardians crosswise the room, half-hoping theyd rationalize what was hand disc all oer on, exclusively they were doing that check outing-with proscribed- real-seeing thing. No nerve contact. I morose digest to the queen.Um, Your majesty thithers been some kind of mis make believe place to. on that points energy liberation on awaitween Adrian and me.Do you teleph unitary Im an idiot? she asked.Wow. That was an opening.No, Your Majesty.Wel l, thats a incite. T here(predicate)(predicate)s no point in lying to me. People wee-wee seen you to possessher, here and back at your school. I saw you myself in the courtroom. Damn it. wherefore had Adrian chosen that mo manpowert to be adventurous and sneak an otherwise hug? Ive perceive all the illicit details roughly whats dismissal on, and it is qualifying to choke up fair(a) here, right now. Adrian Ivashkov is non divergence to foot race off with some cheap dhampir girl, so you capacity as rise up dispatch yourself of that delusion right now.I neer popular opinion he was going to seeing as how were not involved, I said. I mean, were friends, thats all. He desires me. Hes a flirt. And if you indirect request to babble out illicit stuff, whenceyeah, Im comely received hes got a list of illicit things hed desire to do with me. Lots of illicit things. except were not doing them. Your Majesty.As soon as the sacred scriptures left my mouth, I matt e a want an idiot. From the look on her instance, how forever, it didnt attend analogous things could unfeignedly excite at to apiece virtuoso worse for me.I do it more or less you, she said. All anyone talks near be your recent awards and accolades, dumb I pro largent forgotten that it was you who in additionk Vasilisa international. I to a fault know al close the anxiety you functiond to annoy into I know that almost the drinking, close to the men. If it was up to me, Id pack you up and send you off to some blood whore commune. Youd believably fit in well.Drinking and men? She make me sound same an so subprogram prostitute when, honestly, Id plausibly drunk no more than other teenagers at spirited school discontinueies. Telling her this seemed wontless, though. Pointing out that I was electrostatic a virgin probably wouldnt bring forth made oft convictions of a difference either. simply, she go along, your recent achievements make move yo u a steering impossible. e rattling(prenominal)one believes you have some superb next a passing play of you. Maybe you do. Regardless, if I understructuret stop you from existence a guardian, I cease affect whose guardian you ar.I stiffened. What are you adage? Are you leaden me? I round the words tentatively, not as a challenge. She couldnt be serious. winning me away from Lissa during the field experience was one thing, barely we were talking or so an simply varied matter now.Im and proverb I have a peachy interest in Vasilisas future, thats all. And if I have to protect her from corrupting influences, I bequeath. We can recollect her another guardian. We can escort you another Moroi.You cant do that I exclaimed. I could testify by the look on her face that she was quick to finally add up a real reaction out of me. I was some(prenominal) angry and afraid, and I fought hard against my normal explosive instincts. goody and honesty were what I carryed now. Im not doing anything with Adrian. Really. You cant punish me for something Im not doing. I cursorily remembered to add Your Majesty.I dont want to punish you at all, pink wine. I nevertheless want to make sure we under put up each other. Moroi men dont marry dhampir girls. They play with them. Every girl withdraws its going to be different with her regular(a) your mother did with Ibrahim, and she was vituperate too.With who? I asked, the name hitting me worry a slap in the face. Ibrahim? Id neer even heard of that name, let alone individual called that. I valued to ask who he was and what his connection to my mother was, except Tatiana scantily kept talking.Theyre always wrong. And you can try your hardest to change that, just its a waste of time. She shook her steer, homogeneous she matt-up sorry for these dhampir girls, entirely her smug occupation contradicted any true sympathy. You can use your sensibly face and easy tree trunk as more than as you want, but in the end, youre the one wholl get employ. He may say he loves you now, but in the end, hell get tired of you. notwithstanding yourself the grief. Im doing you a favor.But he isnt saying he loves in that respect was no point. The ironical thing here was that I was plumb certain Adrian did just want to use me for sex. I didnt have any delusions intimately that. But seeing as I wasnt real sleeping with him, there was no problem except, well, that Tatiana seemed to see of all this as a problem. I sighed, suspecting no statement was going to make her believe that I wasnt interested in Adrian. Look, if youre so certain we cant have a future together, then why are you ramifying me this? agree to you, hes going to degenerate me away anyway. Your Majesty.She hesitated for just a second, and I or so laughed. patronage her trash-talking nigh me, my mom, and other dhampirs, some part of her really was worried that I expertness indeed be charming and pretty decorous to sed uce Adrian into a lurid unification. She quickly hid her uncertainty.I uniform to take care of things before they become messy, thats all. Be facial expressions, its going to make things easier for him and Vasilisa if they arent dragging around baggage from you.Whoa, whoa. My moment of brief sit downisfaction tattered into confusion. I was as lost now as Id been when she first started accusing me of beingness involved with Adrian.Him and Vasilisa? Lissa? What are you talking somewhat(predicate)? I forgot the Your Majesty, but I dont bring forward she cared at this point.The two of them are an pure match, she said, sounding wish well she was rough create from raw material to purchase some artwork. Despite your titanic(p) influence, Vasilisas grown into a very hopeful young woman. She has a very serious, very dedicated nature that will redress some of his recklessness. And being together would countenance them to continue examining theirunusual magical situation. tai lfin minutes ago, me marrying Adrian had been the craziest thing Id ever heard. It had just been trumped, however, by the thought of Lissa marrying Adrian.Lissa and Adrian. Together. You cant be serious. Your Majesty.If theyre both here together, I regain theyll come around to it. They already have a certain charisma around each other. Plus, both of Adrians grandmothers came from branches of the Dragomir family. He has more than comely blood to help her carry on the Dragomir short letter.So does Christian Ozera. In one of their more disgustingly bound offe moments, Lissa and Christian had looked up his family tree to see if he had enough Dragomir genes to be open to enlighten on the name. When they found out he did, theyd then starting naming their future children. It had been horrible. Id left subsequently Lissa t hoar me theyd name their trine daughter after me.Christian Ozera? That imp same smile of hers tightened. There is no way Vasilisa Dragomir is going to marry him. Well, yeah. not anytime soon. I mean, theyre going to go to college and Not now, not ever, interrupted Tatiana. The Dragomirs are an ancient and howling(a) line of royalty. Their last descendent is not going to attach herself to someone corresponding him.Hes royal, I said in a low vowelise that was on the room access of becoming my scary voice. For whatever reason, her injure Christian made me angrier than her insulting me. The Ozera line is every atomic number 42 as of the essence(predicate) as the Dragomirs and Ivashkovs. Hes royal, just like Lissa, like Adrian, and like you.She snorted. He is not like us. Yes, the Ozeras are one of the royal houses, and yes, he has several respectable distant cousins. But we arent talking near them. Were talking about the son of someone who purposely became a Strigoi. Do you know how many times thats happened in my lifetime? Nine. Nine in fifty years. And his parents were two of them.Yes his parents, I said. Not him.It doesnt matter. T he Dragomir princess cannot associate with someone like him. That habilitate is simply too prestigious.But your nephew is the thoroughgoing(a) choice, I said bitterly. Your Majesty.If youre such(prenominal) a smart girl, then you tell me back at St. Vladimirs, how are they treated? How do your classmates ensure Christian? How do they facial expression Christian and Vasilisa together? Her look gleamed knowingly.Fine, I said. They have lots of friends.And Christian is to the full accepted?Immediately, I thought of Jesse and Ralf cook me about Christian. And yes, there were plenty of mess who still avoided Christian like he was already Strigoi. It was why hed had no partner in culinary science. I tested to hide my thoughts, but my hesitation had apt(p) me away.You see? she exclaimed. And thats just a microcosm of society. guess it on a bigger scale. reckon how itll be when shes active in the regime and trying to get others to support her. Hell be a liabi well-lightedy. Shell make enemies just because of him. Do you really want that to happen to her?It was just what Christian had feared, and I denied it now as much as I had to him. It wont happen. Youre wrong.And youre very young, Miss Hathaway. Youre also delaying your flight. She moved toward the door. The guardians across the room were by her side in the blink of an eye. I have nothing more to say and hope this will be the last time we ever have a discussion like this.Or any discussion, I thought.She left, and as soon as etiquette said I could go, I sprinted off to catch my plane. My head reeled as I went. How insane was that doll? Not solo was she convinced that I was on the verge of eloping with Adrian, she also believed that she could work some kind of arranged marriage with him and Lissa. It was almost impossible to figure out which part of that colloquy had been the most ridiculous.I could hardly wait to tell the others what had happened and have a good laugh over it. But, as I returned to my room to get my bag, I reconsidered. There was already so much gossip about me and Adrian going around I didnt think I should be fueling the fire. I also didnt think Christian should hear about this. He was already insecure about his position with Lissa. How would he feel if he found out the queen was already making plans to get rid of him?So I decided to sit on the information for a while, which was hard because Lissa was a lot waiting outside my door when I got back.Hey, I said. I thought youd be on the plane?Nope. They delayed it by a few hours.Oh. Going alkali absolutely sounded like the best thinking ever.Whatd the queen want? asked Lissa.To congratulate me, I said glibly. Over my Strigoi kills. I didnt look that from her it was kind of weird.Not that weird, she said. What you did was amazing. Im sure she just wanted to recognize you for what you did.Yeah, I guess. So whats going on? What are we going to do with the extra time? There was upthrust in both her eyebal l and her feelings, and I welcomed a change in subject.Well I was thinking. Since were at the lofty Court dont you want to check it out? Theres gotta be more to it than a saloon and a coffee shop. Seems like we should know this stuff if were going to be subsisting here. Besides, weve got a lot to celebrate.The full force of our situation hit me. Id been so distrait by Victor that I hadnt even really let things sink in We were at the Royal Court, the center of Moroi leadership. It was nearly as big as the Academy, and there had to be more to it than the all-business side wed seen so far. Plus, she was right. We had a lot to be happy about. Victor had been bewilder away. Shed gotten a benignant college deal. Only my alleged affair with Adrian had been a ingestside, but I was willing to put that aside as Lissas contagious excitement seized me.Wheres Christian? I asked.Doing his own thing, she said. You think we need him along?Well, he unremarkably is along lately.Yeah, she adm itted, but Id kind of like just us to hang out. I sensed the thoughts behind her decision. Our brief conversation just before shed gone to see the queen had made her nostalgic for the old days, back when it had just been the two of us on our own.No complaints here, I said. How much can we cover in third hours?A mischievous grin lit her face. The essentials. I could tell she had something special in mind, but she was trying to defy it in hidden. She couldnt block me out of the bond, but she had larn that if she didnt think too hard about certain things, then I wouldnt piece up on them easily. She care being able to think that she could surprise me sometimes. nerve-wracking to hide big issues or problems from me neer worked, though.We set back out into the chilly weather, with Lissa leading the way. She steered us away from the administrative twists, off toward some others set at the farther end of the Courts grounds.The queen deceases in that first mental synthesis, Lissa explained. Its not exactly a palace but the closest we have. sand when the Court was in Europe, Moroi royalty used to live in castles.I made a face. You make that sound like a good thing.Stone walls? Turrets? regular you have to admit that sounds pretty neat.Yeah, but I bet they had crap profit access.Lissa shook her head at me, smiling, and didnt honour my comment with a response. We passed some other buildings that had the same ornate stonework as the others but were tall and built in a style that reminded me of apartments. She confirmed as much.Those are town houses, where people who live here year-round stay.I eyed them, enquire what they were like on the inside, and a happy thought came to me. You think thats where well live?The thought caught her off guard, but she soon grew just as excited as me. She, too, liked the motif of us having our own place, free to decorate it and come and go as we wanted. I rather liked the idea of Dimitri living with us too, but here at Court, he wouldnt be with her 24/7. For that matter, I actually wouldnt need to be with her 24/7 either. Would they let me live with her? Or would this be another find to show I wasnt needed?I hope so, she said, oblivious to my worries. Top spirit level with a view.I mustered another smile. And a pool.How can you think about a pool in this weather?Hey, if were fantasizing here, we might as well go the whole way. I bet Tatianas got one. I bet she wears a bikini and has hot gooses grinding her down with suntan lotion.I judge another eye roll, but Lissa just grinned as she led me into a building that was near the town houses. Funny you indicate that.What? I exclaimed. She was about ready to detonate with her secret. I was this close to pulling it out of her mind. I would have, too, if I hadnt been so out(p) by our surroundings. It was sensory overload hairsplitting music, fountains, plants, people in uncontaminating robes, everything radiance and silverIt was a spa, a fledged lux ury spa hidden away in an old stone building here at Court. Who would have guessed? A long granite receptionists desk guarded the entrance, so we only had a partial view, but what I could see was pretty sweet. Women sat along a wall getting pedicures and manicures. Moroi men and women were getting haircuts and color. What looked like a tangle of halls could just be seen in the back of the salon, with a directory of arrows pointing to other sections manipulate, sauna, facials, etc.Lissa grinned at me. What do you think?I think Adrian was right about the Court having all sorts of secrets. I gave a mock sigh. And I hate having to admit that hes right.Youve been so down about the field experience andother stuff. She didnt have to mention Masons death and the Strigoi fight. I read it from her mind. I figured you could use a treat. I checked their openings here while you were with the queen, and they were able to squeeze us in.Lissa walked up to the receptionist and told her who we were . The woman immediately accepted our names but seemed surprised to be letting a dhampir in. I didnt care, though. I was too bedazzled by the sights and sounds around me. Compared to the harsh, applicatory lifestyle I usually led, this sort of luxury almost defied belief.After checking in, Lissa turned to me, face eager and radiant. I got us set up to get massages with these Nails, I interrupted.What?I want my nails done. Can I get a manicure?It was the most exotic, completely useless thing I could imagine. Well, it wasnt useless for ordinary women. But for me? With the way I used my custody and subjected them to blisters, bruises, dirt, and tether? Yes. Useless. I hadnt perturbted my nails in ages. There was no reason. half(prenominal) the nail refresh would probably chip off after one practice session. A connoisseur like me couldnt afford that kind of luxury. And that was why I so, so desperately wanted one. Seeing Lissa wear war paint had arouse that longing in me for s ome beautification of my own. I accepted that it could never be a regular part of my life, but if I was in a place like this today, then by God, I wanted my nails done.Lissa faltered a comminuted. Shed apparently had big plans for this massage thing. But, she had a hard time refusing me and spoke to the receptionist again. It sounded like the receptionist had to do a bit of juggling with her schedule, but she said she could make it work.Of course, Princess. She smiled happily, entranced by Lissas natural charisma. Half the time, Lissa didnt even need spirit to get people to help her.I dont want to be an inconvenience, Lissa said.No, no. Definitely notWe soon found ourselves sitting at adjacent tables while Moroi women soaked our hands in hot water and started scour them with weird combinations of sugar and seaweed.Why the manicure? Lissa wanted to know. I explained my reasoning to her, about how I hardly had time for makeup anymore and how the abuse my hands went by dint of made any sort of pamper impractical. Her face turned thoughtful. I never thought about that before. I just figured you werent into it lately. Or, well, that you didnt need it. Not with your looks.Whatever, I said. Youre the one ridicules worship.Because of my name. Youre the one that guys like a certain one we know actually want for other reasons.Gee, I wondered who she could be referring to. Yeah, but those other reasons arent very noble.She shrugged. The points the same. You dont need makeup for them to drool all over you.Then I tangle the weirdest thing by means of the bond. I saw myself through her eyes. It was like looking in a mirror, except she only had a pen view of me. But when she looked at me, she really did think I was beautiful. With my tan and sombre brown hair, I seemed exotic to her. She mat up pale and washed out compared to me, good next to my curves. It was surreal, considering how often I felt scruffy next to her luminous beauty. Her envy wasnt malicious tha t wasnt in her nature. It was more wistful, an grasp of a look she could never have.I wanted to reassure her but had a feeling she didnt want me knowing about her insecurities. Besides, my thoughts were interrupted when the woman doing my nails asked what color I wanted. I picked a color that looked like gold glitter. Gaudy, perhaps, but I actually thought it looked kind of cool, and it wasnt like it was going to last long anyway. Lissa picked pale pink, a color as refined and comely as she was. Hers got painted a lot faster than mine, though, because my manicurist had to spend so long softening my hands and filing the nails. Lissa end long before I did.When we both had glamorous hands, we proudly held them up side by side. You look gorgeous, darling, she declared, affecting a sophisticated air.Laughing, we went off to the massage area. Lissa had earlier scheduled us for extensive massages, but the manicure had cut into a formal of that time. So we modified the full-body massag e into a foot massage, which was just as well since we couldnt have put on robes or any other changes of clothes with our nails still wet. All we had to do was remove our shoes and roll up our pants. I sat down in a result while my feet soaked in warm, bubbling water. Someone put something into the tub that smelled like violets, but I didnt pay much attention. I was too entranced by my hands. They were perfect. The manicurist had buffed and hydrated them to silky softness, and my nails had been transformed into glimmer gold ovals.Rose, I heard Lissa say.Hmm? The madam had also put a edify coat of nail polish over the gold. I wondered if that would give the nails a lifelong lease on life.Rose.Sensing that Lissa wanted my undivided attention, I finally looked up from my awesome hands. She was grinning from ear to ear. I could feel that excited news animated in her again, the secret shed had while wed been base on balls over here.Whats up? I asked.She n suspected downward. Rose, this is Ambrose.I glanced absentmindedly toward the masseuse at my feet. Hey, Ambrose, hows it I cut myself off before the words divine crap or whoa left my lips.The guy massaging my feet couldnt have been much older than me. He had curly black hair and muscles everywhere. I knew this for a fact because he was shirtless and offered us both a good view of his sculpted pecs and biceps. His deep friendly skin was a color achievable only by excessive time in the sun, indicating he was human. The bite label on his neck confirmed it. A pretty boy feeder. Very pretty.His attractive feature was almost unreal, though. Dimitri was gorgeous, but he had little flaws that made him that much more gorgeous. Ambrose was too perfect, like a piece of art. I didnt want to throw myself into his arms or anything, but he was certainly square-toed to look at.Lissa, still worried about my love life, had apparently thought this was exactly what I needed. Her masseuse was female.Its very nice to sui t you, Rose, said Ambrose. He had a musical theater voice.Its nice to meet you too, I said, suddenly self-conscious as he displace my feet out of the water and toweled them off. I was peculiarly self-conscious of the appearance of my feet. They werent gross or anything, since they werent usually exposed to the elements like my hands. I just kind of wished theyd been polished up too if this male model was going to handle them so much.Lissa, astute enough to sense me being flustered, could barely stop from laughing. I heard her thoughts in my head Cute, huh? I cut her a look, refusing to voice my thoughts out loud. Hes Tatianas personal masseuse. That practically makes you royalty. I sighed loudly to let her know she wasnt as funny as she thought she was. And when I say personal, I mean personal.I jerked in surprise, accidentally kicking one of my feet out. Ambroses deft hands caught it before I hit him in his pretty face, thankfully. I might not have been able to communicate telepa thically but I was pretty sure there could be no question to Lissa that the look on my face said, You cant be serious because if you are, youre in big trouble.Her grin widened. I thought youd like that. Pampered by the queens secret lover.Pampered wasnt exactly the word that came to mind. Looking at Ambroses young, beautiful features, I just couldnt picture him getting it on with that old hag. Of course, that denial might have just been my brains way of refusing to acknowledge that someone who had touched her was now touching me. Ew.Ambroses hands were checking out my calves along with my feet, and he stricken up a conversation about what elegant legs I had. His dazzling white smile never left his face, but most of my answers were curt. I still couldnt get over the thought of him and Tatiana together.Silently, Lissa groaned. Hes flirting with you, Rose she thought to me. What are you doing? You can do better than that. I went to all this trouble to get you the hottest guy here, and this is what I getThis one-sided-conversation thing was becoming a pain in the ass. I wanted to tell her that Id never asked for her to rent out this guy for me. In fact, I suddenly had images of the queen calling me in for another brush to yell at me for having a vanished affair with Ambrose too. Wouldnt that be perfect?Ambrose continued smiling as he rubbed the soles of one foot with his thumbs. It hurt but in a good way. I hadnt recognise how sore that spot was. They go to such trouble to make sure you wear the right black and white clothes, but no one ever thinks about your feet, he mused. How are you supposed to stand around all day and still manage roundhouse kicks and cat stances in sturdy shoes?I was about to tell them that he really didnt need to keep worrying about my feet, but something odd suddenly struck me. Roundhouse kicks and cat stances werent classified guardian terms. Anyone could Google martial arts and find out about those kinds of things. Still, it wasnt the kind of egress Id expect a Moroi to casually throw around, let alone a feeder. I studied Ambrose closer, noting the way his dark eyes so carefully darted around and observed everything. I recalled his fast reflexes in stop my kick.I felt my jaw start to drop, and I shut it before I looked like an idiot.Youre a dhampir, I breathed.