Roof - Friday Late Afternoon

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

Rose's ass was thoroughly kicked by her second training session in the afternoon.  So much so that she was pretty sure if she sat down on her bed, she'd end up asleep right up until tomorrow morning.  Which would be pathetic. 

The rain seemed to have stopped though so she wandered up to the roof and sat on the wall.  It was totally dorky, but she even had a book with her to study. Something about that new determination plus actually having talked Dimitri into fight training had made her realise there were other parts of being a guardian she hadn't been paying attention to.  So she was fixing it...even if this book was a little too focused on the threat of guns to the protectees. 

The longer she was up there, the less the book was actually getting read.

[Home from work early wheeee]

Comments

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

"Course not," Beka grinned and she rested her elbows on the railing. "How does it work, becoming a bodyguard? Will you get more training after the trials?"

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

She pulled her hair over her shoulder, combing her fingers through it. "I'll get assigned a Moroi - they're the ones we protect. Kinda a long story - to guard. She'll probably be my best friend, Lissa. I'll train more, obviously, won't ever be good enough, but I'll be officially on duty then."

The 'officially' was the only change from every moment of every day she was with Lissa. They come first

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

"You'll be the only one to guard her?" Beka asked. "No Senior guard to help out or a partner?"

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"Depends. If it's Lissa, there'll be two of us - probably my mentor and me," Rose said. "But not everyone qualifies for two guardians. There aren't as many of us as there used to be so they have to ration us out."

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

That was a strange choice of words and Beka turned away from the railing to look at Rose. "There aren't many guards?" she asked, wondering if she was understanding it right.

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"Guardians," she corrected. Because apparently it was important. Rose shrugged. "And no, not a huge number. Definitely not a lot of girls."

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

"So the guardians are spread thin?" Beka guessed, stressing the term this time.

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

Rose winked at the stressing of the word. "Pretty much. All the royals get guardians but beyond that, it's the luck of the draw. We don't tend to have a lot of kids most of the time."

That whole a) dying young and b) lack of fertility had something to do with it.

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

"It's a family trade?" Beka asked, uncertain where the kids remark fitted in.

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"It's kinda a supernatural thing?" Rose said, unsure how much Beka could deal with. "We have a set of inherited traits that helps us with the job."

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

"And only people with your Gift can become guardians?" Beka asked, not looking surprised so far.

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

Rose looked over at her then chuckled. "Yeah, you could say that."

It was easier than the truth anyway.

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

"They might have to revise that if you're with so few," Beka mused.

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"Maybe," Rose agreed. She shrugged then grinned over at the other girl. "It's all politics. I don't pay attention to all the stupid royal stuff."

That was Lissa's job.

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

"Your friend's royalty too then?" Beka asked curiously. Royalty had to be much harder to deal with than simple nobility.

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"Princess," Rose said with a shrug. "Mainly cause she's the last of her family." She grinned. "Therefore training all the time."

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

"She'll be queen?" Beka asked, sounding surprised. "That's a lot of responsibility."

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

Yes. Rose shook her head. "It doesn't work that way. There are twelve royal families, and the oldest of each of them is the Prince. The Queen is chosen from the royals by the previous one, but she can't choose someone from her family." She shrugged. "It's weird, I dunno."

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

"But there's a chance she'll be picked?" Beka asked. "There's got to be a lot of strife between the families?"

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

Rose looked amused. "You sound pretty interested in politics yourself."

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

Beka wrinkled her nose. "Am not," she argued. "Tis best to keep well away from nobility. Just sounds like something where you'd want more than one guardian."

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"You're not wrong," she agreed. "But then I got sat next to her in kindergarten and so not much choice from then on."

Rose didn't sound like she minded so much.

"But yeah, she'll probably get two guardians. "My mentor, Dimitri, he's freaking fantastic. We'll probably be assigned together."

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

Beka grinned. "At least not all nobility are as bad," she allowed. "We work in pairs, too," she added, there was some wistfulness in her voice about that.

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"She's not bad at all," Rose said, instantly defensive without even realising it.

"Who's your partner?" she asked curiously.

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

"Exactly," Beka said, not having meant Lissa at all.

The question was one she didn't want to answer and her shoulders straightened as she glanced away. "Don't have one."