Three

Rose's gaze dropped to the ground, obviously affected by her mentor's admonishment. "You're right, Dimitri," she said, uncharacteristically soft. Dimitri released Lissa's waist, and Lissa linked her arm with Rose's once again. The dhampir perked up a little bit, reminded of what she had been so excited about just seconds earlier. "But you'll be with us, anyway. No Strigoi can get past you, right?" She grinned brightly at the Russian guardian, and pulled Lissa off toward the store she had been aiming for. She could not prove it, but Lissa swore she saw the hint of a smile on the man's features before she was led away.

"So, what are we looking for?" Rose asked.

"I don't know," Lissa said truthfully. "I'm bored in the car, so I know I need something to do between here and Court. Maybe we can just look at clothes while we're here? We don't need to buy anything."

"Unless it jumps up and screams take me home?" Rose laughed.

"Unless it jumps up and screams take me to Court," Lissa amended.

"God help Dimitri. He's been with us to the mall before, he knows first-hand how bad it can get. And yet, he's still willing to come with us." Rose glanced over her shoulder and back at him. Lissa did not have to look to know Dimitri had taken over the role of far-guard, as he always did. It gave the girls their privacy, but also allowed for Rose to get the practice she needed for when she was officially assigned to Lissa. If she's assigned to me, Lissa thought. There was a certain comfort to the fact that she knew Rose and Dimitri would be there for her. She did not think there were two dhampir that she could trust with her life more than those two.

"Well, we are on a schedule, so maybe we'll be okay?" Lissa proposed meekly. "After all, Emil did point out that this would be cutting into your eating time."

"Don't you dare even mention food," Rose groaned, gripping her stomach dramatically. "There will never be enough time in the world for me to get the food I need."

"We'll hit this store, maybe one other, and then we'll go get your food," Lissa promised. "There'll probably be somewhere I can get a new iPod or something."

"Because you left your other one at the academy?" Rose's voice held a note of strict formality, which faded away as she gave a disapproving look to her best friend, and both girls dissolved into laughter. It was nice, being away from the academy like this. Lissa could pretend that she and Rose were just two day-and-night opposite best friends, simply content to be eighteen and on an evening shopping spree rather than a young princess and possible successor to a throne of all of her kind and a girl that would most likely die for her best friend.

"Oh, but then I won't have time to put any music on it!" Lissa moaned. "That won't work at all, will it?"

"Hmm," Rose muttered. "How 'bout a phone? One of those prepaid things. You can get it, activate it, and buy a card, and you can use the internet on the phone to get music from YouTube or something."

"But we're not allowed to have phones at the academy," Lissa pointed out.

"We will not be going back." While lost in conversation, the girls had slowed down enough as they entered the store that their far guard became not so far, and they had almost forgotten about him.

"What do you mean?" Rose released Lissa's arm, and made her way toward one of the display racks. "Of course we're going back. We haven't graduated yet."

"Get the phone, Princess," Dimitri said, brushing off Rose's words. "In fact, it may be beneficial for more than just entertainment on the ride to Court." As much as Rose might have enjoyed the Russian's voice, Lissa caught on to a slight hint of something more in his tone. He did not speak quite the same way in that instant as he had to Rose in their private moments - she would not be able to identify that voice had he used it in front of her, at any rate - but it was not quite as curt as what she had come to associate with him in full guardian mode.

"How do you mean by that, Guardian Belikov?" Lissa added a small amount of emphasis into her words, not quite compulsion, but not quite a simple question. She would not dare use compulsion on Dimitri; he was too good to her, and he would notice too quickly. She did not want to deceive him, but she did want to know the meaning behind his words.

"You will find out soon enough, Princess." He gave a hint of a smile - one that betrayed he knew far more about this commute than he would ever tell - and walked over to the wall to the right of the store, where all the men's clothing was. There, he could pretend to be interested in what the shop had to offer, but he could still see over the racks and where the girls were.

"He's getting too much pleasure out of this," Rose said bitterly. "He enjoys messing with us. He's going all zen-master bullshit on us. I'm surprised he didn't give you any life advice just then, Liss."

"You just hate not knowing things," Lissa sighed. She had to admit, not knowing what was going on was irking her just as much as it was her friend. Not knowing was bad enough - but they were being left out of the loop intentionally! If this was not a classic example of how shady the Moroi world could be, Lissa had no idea of what was. "Rose, that dress -"

"Do not tell me that is my dress," Rose warned. "The last time you pointed out my dress..." The brunette's voice trailed off, and she got lost in a memory Lissa knew nothing about. Her eyes drifted over to Dimitri, behind Lissa's back, before she snapped herself back to the present. "It ended up in the back of my closet, and I've only worn it the once."

"I think that's my dress," Lissa finished. "I've had a lot of dresses, but I'm quite certain that is my dress." She picked up a dress in a pale pink, so soft it was nearly white. It was in a very Greek style, with three-quarter length sleeves that closed around the forearms and near the elbow, but had slits along the outer arm. There was a simple gold beaded band around the waist, and the entire thing made her think of a seashell.

"That's your dress," Rose agreed. "Just tell me you're not going to wear it purely so Sparky can hike it up." She shuddered at the thought, just before a worse one replaced it. "Or take it off. Lissa, please, you're gorgeous, but I'd rather not be seeing that fly over my head any time soon because you're getting too hot and heavy with him."

"Christian and I don't get hot and heavy!" Lissa defended. Rose cocked her head to the side and raised both her eyebrows, silently calling the paler girl out on what Rose would so lovingly call 'her bullshit'.

"God help Dimitri Belikov," Rose laughed. The sound of his name brought his gaze to hers, and Lissa turned around to see the electricity flowing between the two dhampir.

"God help Dimitri Belikov," Lissa parroted softly. God help Dimitri Belikov, because he's in love with my best friend. This will not work out well for them.