I thanked her for the reading, secretly glad I didn't have to pay for it. Ambrose walked me out, and I tried to shake off the mood Rhonda's fortune had left me in. I had enough problems in my life without letting a bunch of stupid cards bother me.
"You going to be okay?" he asked when we finally emerged. The sun was climbing higher. The Royal Court would be going to bed soon, ending what had been a turbulent day. "I... I wouldn't have brought you if I'd known how much it would upset you."
"No, no," I said. "It's not the cards. Not exactly. There's a bunch of other things going on... one you should probably know about."
I hadn't wanted to bring up the decree when we'd first run into each other, but as a dhampir, he had a right to hear about what had happened. His face was perfectly still as I spoke, save for his dark brown eyes, which grew wider while the story progressed.
"There's some mistake," he said at last. "They wouldn't do that. They wouldn't do that to sixteen-year-olds."
"Yeah, well, I didn't think so either, but they were apparently serious enough about it to throw me out when I, um, questioned it."
"I can just imagine your 'questioning.' All this'll do is make more dhampirs drop out of the guardians... unless, of course, being that young makes them more open for brainwashing."
"Kind of a sensitive area for you, huh?" I asked. After all, he too was a guardian drop-out.
He shook his head. "Staying in this society was nearly impossible for me. If any of those kids do decide to drop out, they won't have the powerful friends I did. They'll be outcasts. That's all this'll do. Either kill off teens or cut them off from their own people."
I wondered what powerful friends he'd had, but this was hardly the time to learn his life history. "Well, that royal bitch doesn't seem to care."
The thoughtful, distracted look in his eyes suddenly sharpened. "Don't call her that," he warned with a glare. "This isn't her fault."
Whoa. Cue surprise. I'd almost never seen sexy, charismatic Ambrose be anything but friendly. "Of course it's her fault! She's the supreme ruler of the Moroi, remember?"
His scowl deepened. "The Council voted too. Not her alone."
"Yeah, but she voted in support of this decree. She swayed the vote."
"There must have been a reason. You don't know her like I do. She wouldn't want this kind of thing."
I started to ask if he was out of his mind but paused when I remembered his relationship with the queen. Those romantic rumors made me queasy, but if they were true, I supposed he might have legitimate concern for her. I also decided it was probably best that I didn't know her the way he did. The bite marks on his neck certainly indicated some sort of intimate activity.
"Whatever's going on between you is your business," I told him calmly, "but she's used it to trick you into thinking she's someone she isn't. She did it to me too, and I fell for it. It's all a scam."
"I don't believe it," he said, still stone-faced. "As queen, she's put into all sorts of tough situations. There must be more to it--she'll change the decree, I'm certain of it."
"As queen," I said, imitating his tone, "she should have the ability to--"
My words fell off as a voice spoke in my head. Lissa's.
Rose, you're going to want to see this. But you have to promise not to cause any trouble. Lissa flashed a location to me, along with a sense of urgency.
Ambrose's hard look shifted to one of concern. "Are you okay?"
"I--yeah. Lissa needs me." I sighed. "Look, I don't want us to fight, okay? Obviously we've each got different views of the situation... but I think we both agree on the same key point."
"That kids shouldn't be sent off to die? Yeah, we can agree on that." We smiled tentatively at each other, and the anger between us diffused. "I'll talk to her, Rose. I'll find out the real story and let you know, okay?"
"Okay." I had a hard time believing anyone could really have a heart-to-heart with Tatiana, but again, there might be more to their relationship than I realized. "Thanks. It was good seeing you."
"You too. Now go--go to Lissa."
I needed no further urging. Along with the sense of urgency, Lissa had passed one other message through the bond that sent my feet flying: It's about Dimitri.
Chapter Twenty-Three
I DIDN'T NEED THE BOND to find Lissa. The crowd tipped me off to where she--and Dimitri--were.
My first thought was that some kind of stoning or medieval mobbing was going on. Then I realized that the people standing around were simply watching something. I pushed through them, heedless of the dirty looks I got, until I stood in the front row of the onlookers. What I found brought me to a halt.