“Lissa's guardians- she had a fleet now- walked with her. I was among them, wearing my finest black and white, including the red collar marking me as a royal guardian.”

“Guardian Belikov is the princess's guardian now," said Kirova, "Her sanctioned guardian.""You got cheap foreign labour to protect Lissa?”

“Dimitri: "She might be wild and disrespectful, but if she has potential—"Rose: "Wild and disrespecful? Who the hell are you anyway? Oursourced help?"Kirova: "Guardian Belikov is the Princess Lissa's guardian now, her sanctioned guardian."Rose: "You got cheap foreign labor to protect Lissa?”

“He shrugged. "She might be wild and disrespectful, but if she has potential—”"Wild and disrespectful?" I interrupted. "Who the hell are you anyway? Outsourced help?”"Guardian Belikov is the princess's guardian now," said Kirova. "Her sanctioned guardian.”"You got cheap foreign labor to protect Lissa?”

“The Guardians wouldn't abandon the last Dragomir. And I wouldn't have abandoned Lissa even if there were a million Dragomirs.”

“She’s not just any Moroi. She’s royal. A princess. And you’ve seen how she is! Smart and strong and beautiful. She’s destined for great things, and one of them isn’t being involved with a controversial guardian like me. Her bloodline’s regal.Hell, I don’t even know who my dad is. Dating her is not even possible. My job is to protect her. To keep her safe. That’s where all my attention needs to be.”

“Janine Hathaway offered to be my guardian, " said Lissa suddenly."Janine Hathaway?" Tatiana's eyebrows rose nearly to her hairline. "I'm sure she has other commitments. No, we've got much better choices." A better choice than Janine Hathaway? Not likely. Before Dimitri, my mother had been the gold standard by which I measured all badassedness.”