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I turned back to Dimitri. "She's supposed to have two guardians. Princes and princesses always
do.”
Spiridon was Dimitri's age, with spiky blond hair and a more casual attitude. Despite his Greek
name, he had a Southern drawl. "Don't worry, she'll have plenty when the time comes. Dimitri's
already one of them. Odds are you'll be one too. And that's why you're here today.”
"The training part," I guessed.
"Yup. You're going to be Dimitri's partner.”
A moment of funny silence fell, probably not noticeable to anyone except Dimitri and me. Our
eyes met.
"Guarding partner," Dimitri clarified unnecessarily, like maybe he too had been thinking of
other kinds of partners.
"Yup," agreed Spiridon.
Oblivious to the tension around him, he went on to explain how guardian pairs worked. It was
standard stuff, straight from my textbooks, but it meant more now that I'd be doing it in the real
world. Guardians were assigned to Moroi based on importance. Two was a common grouping,
one I'd probably work in a lot with Lissa. One guardian stayed close to the target; the other
stood back and kept an eye on the surroundings.
Boringly, those holding these positions were called near and far guards.
"You'll probably always be near guard," Dimitri told me. "You're female and the same age as
the princess. You can stay close to her without attracting any attention.”
"And I can't ever take my eyes off her," I noted. "Or you.”
Spiridon laughed again and elbowed Dimitri. "You've got a star student there. Did you give her
a stake?”
"No. She's not ready.”