"Hi, Lady Ivashkov."
"Daniella," she said kindly. "No titles."
"Sorry. It's still a weird thing."
She nodded toward where Dimitri and Lissa were departing with his guards. "I saw you there, just now. You helped his case, I think. Poor Reece was pretty flustered."
I recalled that Reece was related to her. "Oh... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to--"
"Don't apologize. Reece is my uncle, but in this case, I believe in what Vasilisa and Mr. Belikov are saying."
Despite how angry Dimitri had just made me, my gut instinct resented the dropping of his "guardian" title. Yet I could forgive her, considering her attitude.
"You... you believe Lissa healed him? That Strigoi can be restored?" I was realizing there were lots of people who believed. The crowd had just demonstrated as much, and Lissa was still building her following of devotees. Somehow, my line of thinking always tended to assume all royals were against me. Daniella's smile turned wry.
"My own son is a spirit user. Since accepting that, I've had to accept a lot of other things I didn't believe were possible."
"I suppose you would," I admitted. Beyond her, I noticed a Moroi man standing near some trees. His eyes occasionally fell on us, and I could have sworn I'd seen him before. Daniella's next words turned my attention back to her.
"Speaking of Adrian... he was looking for you earlier. It's short notice now, but some of Nathan's relatives are having a late cocktail party in about an hour, and Adrian wanted you to go." Another party. Was that all anyone ever did here at Court? Massacres, miracles... it didn't matter. Everything was cause for a party, I thought bitterly.
I'd probably been with Ambrose and Rhonda when Adrian went searching. It was interesting. In passing on the invitation, Daniella was also saying that she wanted me to go. Unfortunately, I had a hard time being as open to it. Nathan's family meant the Ivashkovs, and they wouldn't be so friendly.
"Will the queen be there?" I asked suspiciously.
"No, she has other engagements."
"Are you sure? No unexpected visits?"
She laughed. "No, I'm certain of it. Rumor has it that you two being in the same room together... isn't such a good idea."
I could only imagine the stories going around about my Council performance, particularly since Adrian's father had been there to witness it.
"No, not after that ruling. What she did..." The anger I'd felt earlier began to blaze again. "It was unforgivable." That weird guy by the tree was still waiting around. Why?
Daniella didn't confirm or deny my statement, and I wondered where she stood on the issue. "She's still quite fond of you."
I scoffed. "I have a hard time believing that." Usually, people who yelled at you in public weren't too "fond" of you, and even Tatiana's cool composure had cracked near the end of our spat.
"It's true. This will blow over, and there might even be a chance for you to be assigned to Vasilisa."
"You can't be serious," I exclaimed. I should have known better. Daniella Ivashkov didn't really seem like the joking type, but I really did believe I'd crossed the line with Tatiana.
"After everything that's happened, they don't want to waste good guardians. Besides, she doesn't want there to be animosity between you."
"Yeah? Well, I don't want her bribery! If she thinks putting Dimitri out there and dangling a royal job is going to change my mind, she's wrong. She's a lying, scheming--"
I stopped abruptly. My voice had gone loud enough that Daniella's nearby friends were now staring. And I really didn't want to say the names I thought Tatiana deserved in front of Daniella.
"Sorry," I said. I attempted civility. "Tell Adrian I'll come to the party... but do you really want me to go? After I crashed the ceremony the other night? And after, um, other things I've done?"
She shook her head. "What happened at the ceremony is as much Adrian's fault as it is yours. It's done, and Tatiana let it go. This party's a much more lighthearted event, and if he wants you there, then I want him to be happy."
"I'll go shower and change now and meet him at your place in an hour."
She was tactful enough to ignore my earlier outburst. "Wonderful. I know he'll be happy to hear that."
I declined to tell her that I was actually happy about the thought of flaunting myself in front of some Ivashkovs in the hopes that it would get back to Tatiana. I no longer believed for an instant that she accepted what was going on with Adrian and me or that she would let my outburst blow over. And truthfully, I did want to see him. We hadn't had much time to talk recently.
After Daniella and her friends left, I figured it was time to get to the bottom of things. I headed straight over to the Moroi who'd been lurking around, hands on my hips.
"Okay," I demanded. "Who are you, and what do you want?"
He was only a few years older than me and didn't seem at all fazed by my tough-girl attitude. He crooked me a smile, and I again pondered where I'd seen him.
"I've got a message for you," he said. "And some gifts."
He handed over a tote bag. I looked inside and found a laptop, some cords, and several pieces of paper. I stared up at him in disbelief.
"What's this?"
"Something you need to get a move on--and not let anyone else know about. The note will explain everything."
"Don't play spy movie with me! I'm not doing anything until you--" His face clicked. I'd seen him back at St. Vladimir's, around the time of my graduation--always hovering in the background. I groaned, suddenly understanding the secretive nature--and cocky attitude. "You work for Abe."
Chapter Twenty-Four
THE MAN GRINNED. "YOU MAKE that sound like a bad thing."
I made a face and looked back into the techno-bag with new appreciation. "What's going on?"
"I'm the messenger. I just run errands for Mr. Mazur."
"Is that a nice way of saying you spy for him? Find out everyone's dirty secrets so that he can use them against people and keep playing his games?" Abe seemed to know everything about everyone--especially royal politics. How else could he manage it without having eyes and ears everywhere? Say, at Court? For all I knew, he had my room wired with microphones.
"Spying's a harsh word." I notice the guy didn't deny it. "Besides, he pays well. And he's a good boss." He turned from me, job done, but gave one last warning. "Like I said--it's time sensitive. Read the note as soon as you can."