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When Stan—the instructor I'd fought with the most since my first day—hugged me and said,<br />
"Now you're one of us. I always knew you'd be one of the best," I thought I'd pass out.<br />
And then when my mother came up to me, I couldn't help the tear that ran down my cheek. She<br />
wiped it away and then brushed her fingers against the back of my neck. "Don't ever forget,"<br />
she told me.<br />
Nobody said, "Congratulations," and I was glad. Death wasn't anything to get excited about.<br />
When that was done, drinks and food were served. I walked to the buffet table and made a plate<br />
for myself of miniature feta quiches and a slice of mango cheesecake. I ate without really<br />
tasting the food and answered questions from others without even knowing what I said half the<br />
time. It was like I was a Rose robot, going through the motions of what was expected. On the<br />
back of my neck, my skin stung from the tattoos, and in my mind, I kept seeing Mason's blue<br />
eyes and Isaiah's red ones.<br />
I felt guilty for not enjoying my big day more, but I was relieved when the group finally started<br />
dispersing. My mother walked up to me as others murmured their goodbyes. Aside from her<br />
words here at the ceremony, we hadn't talked much since my breakdown on the plane. I still felt<br />
a little funny about that—and a little embarrassed as well. She'd never mentioned it, but<br />
something very small had shifted in the nature of our relationship. We weren't anywhere near<br />
being friends…but we weren't exactly enemies anymore either.<br />
"Lord Szelsky is leaving soon," she told me as we stood near the building's doorway, not far<br />
from where I'd yelled for her on that first day we'd talked. "I'll be going with him."<br />
"I know," I said. There was no question she'd leave. That was how it was. Guardians followed<br />
Moroi. They came first.<br />
She regarded me for a few moments, her brown eyes thoughtful. For the first time in a long<br />
time, I felt like we were actually looking eye to eye, as opposed to her looking down on me. It<br />
was about time, too, seeing as I had half a foot of height on her.<br />
"You did well," she said at last. "Considering the circumstances."
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