International Trade Simulation Essay Example for Free

International Trade Simulation Essay In jumping into international trade a country would ideally want to maximize profits and maximize the impact of opportunity costs associated with importing and exporting goods and services. The ideal situation for a country involved in international trade would be the exportation of specialized goods that can be efficiently produced and the importation of goods that are produced elsewhere that are produced under similar conditions. Doing so creates reasonably priced goods that are desirable to other countries. The contents of the paper will discuss the advantages and limitations of international trade as identified in the simulation and will indentify four key points from the reading assignments that were emphasized in the simulation. In addition there will be a discussion on the application of what was learned in the simulation to a familiar organization. Lastly there will be a summary of results from this assessment. Rodamia International Trade Advantages and LimitationsOne major advantage of international trade, as pointed out in the simulation, is that by importing certain goods that a country does not have an advantage over means that the country will be able to optimize the production of the products that they do have advantage over. In this type of situation a country exports an efficiently made, high quality product. For example in the first scenario Rodamia the best products for export were cheese and DVD players. Due certain choices along with availability of technology and resources those commodities were the best choices to produce and subsequently export. Importing corn from Uthania was another good choice because corn is produced at a lower opportunity cost which passes that savings along to Rodamia. In addition importing corn allows Rodamia to put a large amount of its resources into producing cheese. Suntize has a comparative advantage in electronics so importing watches from them was a good decision as well. In trading with Suntize and Uthania this made Rodamia in line with opportunity costs of production in each country. The limitation is that comparative advantage does not stay the same because over time as technology develops and skill level adapts the advantage changes as well. Scenario 2 3Another advantage is that in order to stabilize international conditions countries can decide to or not to impose tariffs to equalize the  market. In the second scenario Suntize exported watches to Rodamia at a lower price than the watches Suntize was selling domestically. Placing a different price otherwise called dumping, causes the international market to become unstable. Rodamia decided to place a tariff so that the price imported can equate to the market value of the watches. The dumping margin was calculated at 25% which would raise a tariff of $40 per unit or 25% of the export price. The tariff also proves to help protect the domestic producers. This is so because the number of imports starts to decrease and domestic production numbers raise because of it. In Rodamia the tariffs caused imports from Suntize to drop to 2.00 million units and increased domestic production to 6.00 million units. One of the limitations is that imposing tariffs means that consumers will no longer be able to reap the benefits of a cheaper imported product. High tariffs can mean that consumers may have to pay for higher priced domestically made goods. In scenario three not imposing a tariff proved to be an advantage because not imposing a tariff on Uthania and Suntize caused them not to impose tariffs on the cheese that is imported from Rodamia. A tariff would also harm goods producers in Uthania and Suntize. The limitations are that in Rodamia the corn industry is in its beginnings and imposing a tariff would protect the domestic industry from cheaper produced corn. A tariff would foster the potential for Rodamia to be a large corn producer. Scenario 4Free trade improves domestic market competition. What this means for the consumer is better quality goods and for producers an expanded market in which to export their goods. Countries involved in free trade benefit from all the other countries involved as once a country determines their competitive advantage other countries can reap the benefits of having quality goods. Rodamia has decided to negotiate free trade agreements with both Uthania and Suntize. In doing so free trade negotiation lowers trade barriers which allow countries to explore other markets. This can provide consumers with a larger variety of products. In addition opening the country to other markets increase production leads to an increase competition and consumers benefit from this. The limitations are that free trade negotiations do not affect countries that are not a part of the FTA. Countries outside of the FTA will have high trade barriers. Four Key PointsFour key points that were emphasized in the readings and in the simulation were comparative advantage, consumer surplus, opportunity costs, and trade restrictions. Comparative advantage is when a country possesses the technology and resources to produce at good at a lower cost compared to another good and another countries production. Since Rodamia could produce cheese efficiently their comparative advantage would lay in cheese production. The comparative advantages in the simulation determined Rodamias exports and imports from the neighboring countries. Consumer surplus is when a country can produce goods at a lower price than another country. The country of Suntize may have had a consumer surplus with its production of electronics. The decision to choose Suntize to import watches was based upon the fact that Suntize had an advantage in producing electronic goods. Opportunity cost is the benefit foregone by producing a certain good (Colander, 2004). Opportunity costs were weighed heavily in Rodamia choosing goods to export. Rodamia was encouraged to export the commodity that had the lowest opportunity cost which turned out to be cheese. Giving away 2000 tons of corn cut cheese production in half where as if no corn was exported and imported instead, yields 8 million pounds of cheese. The last key point involves trade restrictions. Some types of trade restrictions include tariffs, quotas, embargos, and licenses. Tariffs were imposed upon Suntize for creating an unbalanced market. The tariff helped to equalize the imported price with the market value. Not imposing trade restrictions can also help not to harm foreign producers of goods and in return they may not decide to place tariffs on imports. Application of SimulationAs a frequent traveler to foreign Asian countries I now know why some countries produce the goods they produce. For example Jasmine rice is widely known as a Thai commodity but their number one export is computers and computer parts. This is so because Thailand has a comparative advantage in producing those goods and exporting them. Because of the lowered price of production Thailand will be able to export units at a reasonable price making those products desirable to countries that are in need of them. In addition I also see the major disadvantages of being a country that does not have any sort of comparative advantage. This would  make it difficult to trade with other countries that will look for products that can be produced efficiently and less costly. Summary of Results Scenario 1:Exports: Cheese and DVDsImports: Corn/UthaniaWatches/SuntizeScenario 2:Level of Tariff (%/unit): 40Imports from Suntize (million units): 2.00Domestic Product (million units): 6.00Scenario 3:Tariff level: 0%Imports from Uthania Alfazia ($ in million): 37.29Exports from Uthania ($ in million): 32.48Exports to Alfazia ($ in millions): 8.86Rodamias Balance of Trade ($ in millions): 4.04Scenario 4Weather to Negotiate FTAs: YesCountry to Negotiate FTAs with: Alfazia and Uthania Conclusion In summary international trade does not come without issues of creating optimal exports and importing the most cost efficient goods. International trade seems to expand the variety of goods that consumers want and for a country and its producer it seeks out new consumers and markets. The contents of this paper has discussed the advantages and limitations of international trade as identified in the simulation and indentified four key points from the reading assignments that were emphasized in the simulation. In addition there was a discussion on the application of what was learned in the simulation to a familiar organization. Lastly there was a summary of results from this assessment. References: Colander, D.C. (2004). Economics (5th ed.). Burr Ridge, IL: Irwin/McGraw-HillUniversity of Phoenix. (2007). Applying International Trade Concepts. Retrieved on October18, 2007 from, University of Phoenix, rEesource, Simulation,ECO360- Economics for Business I Web site.

Analysis of the Use of Clinical Audits in Healthcare

Analysis of the Use of Clinical Audits in Healthcare Introduction The quality of health care system is important to patients and the Government. High level of quality patient care is the ultimate aim in current health care practices. Service providers wish to deliver quality health care. Patients are the appropriate authority to determine whether the experience of health care is good. Effectiveness of care pertains to treatment and support and helps us to judge whether staffs are, doing the right thing in a right way to achieve best clinical outcomes (Patel, 2010).Audit of services is therefore very important to ensure that the clinical practices are adhered to set professional standards and criteria. On the other hand health services are focusing on new information and knowledge for advanced clinical practice. Research is focused on this area in order to develop new practices and standards in health care system. Researches make changes to health care system by advancement of knowledge and practice. The aim of this paper is to identify the difference between audit and research and analyzing the benefits and limitations of audit. An overview of clinical audit. Audit derived from a Latin word, which means an official inspection of an organizations official accounts, by an independent body (Esposito Canton, 2014). Clinical audit is measuring the quality of patient care provided against a set well defines standards (Yorston Wormald, 2010). It gives staff a systemic way of looking into their practice and making improvements (Bennadi et al, 2014). Pioneer of clinical audit is Florence Nightingale whose work was searching reasons for high mortality in hospitals in 1850s. As per her assessment she reinforced cleanliness resulted in a drastic reduction in mortality rate. (Bennadi et al, 2010). Clinical audit Vs research Clinical audit and clinical research are entirely two different domains (Yorston Wormald, 2010). Clinical audit and research involves some common components. Hence, there is a great deal of controversy (Bennadi et al, 2014) in both terms. Audit compares the current clinical practice against well-defined standard/criteria, while research aims to define the characteristics of good practice on an unknown land (Esposito Canton, 2014). Audit focused on evaluating the existing practice; rather than discovering new information. Research is proven to be a larger scale study that aims at establishing new practices or procedures to carry out a particular task in a different method. The focus of research is further development of existing practice. However, audit is monitoring a task to determine whether a particular task has undertaken as per set standards or criteria. Audits check the quality of the task or procedure (Bennadi et al, 2014). Audit is generally undertaken on a local basis; how ever it is not limited to. (Hughes, 2005). Research aims to obtain new knowledge and to fill in any knowledge gaps. Research focuses on defining questions, making inclusion and exclusion criterias for people or problems to address and any developing clinical interventions or outcomes. Research methods for data collection and analysis that is applied are suitable to the topics for research (Strauss and Sackett, 1998, Hughes, 2005). Audit focuses on evaluating and analyzing the existing ones, not developing new practices (Difference between audit and research, 2014). But, research is aimed at developing new procedures to carry out in a more effective ways of carrying out. The focus on research is invention of new and further development of the old. The aim of an audit is to determine whether the standards and procedures are being followed and whether a task is completed properly. The aim of research is to add onto a body of research and to increase the amount of knowledge and learning available on a specific subject matter (Difference between audit and research, 2014). Also, unlike audits that measure tasks and procedures against a set out standard, research aims to test the hypothesis that is established by the researcher when beginning their experiments (Twycross Shorten 2014). Research considered as a broader field in the field of health. Research requires lot of education and training. Researchers undergo research education and training as a part of their university programme of study to gain the foundation to conduct a research (Hughes, 2005). In contrast, audit emphasized on areas, which needs improvement. Audit can undertake by anyone who is interested in a particular field and few receive education and training (Nettleton and Ireland, 2000). As per Hughess review, researchers involved in audit may benefit from approaches and techniques used to implement findings that could potentially serve to fill the research-practice gap. Equally, those involved in audit will benefit from sampling techniques in research that can help to improve generalisability. Some similarities are identified between audit and research despite their differences. Audit and research starts with a question, require data to answer questions, and systematic approach (Twycross Shorten 2014), also both needs an investigator (Abbasi Heath, 2005). Difference between clinical audit and research is showed in the below table, which was adapted from Bennadi et al, 2014 and Twycross Shorten 2014. Clinical audit Research 1 Audit uses comparison of current clinical practice Research uses experimental methods such as randomised control trials. 2 Uses simple descriptive statistics to describe current practice standards. Uses a range of statistics to make inferences. 3 Audit relates to a particular area of attention. Research can be generalized to other populations. 4 Audit measures how well current practices are carried out against clinical policies and procedures. Research provided evidences for clinical policies and procedures. 5 It is practice based. Research is theory based practice. 6 Ongoing process of quality assurance. One- off study. 7 No involvement of placebo treatment. May involve placebo treatment. 8 No changes involved in treatments of patients. Changes in treatment process. 9 Ethical approval is not required. Requires ethical approval. Benefits of clinical audit Audit conducted against set standards (Patel, 2010, Hughes, 2005) in a cyclic (Tsaloglidou, 2009, Hughes, 2005) process to ensure tasks carried out correctly. At the end of audit cycle auditors are able to address the areas of improvement and give feedback to the personnel who are involved in that particular task. Reaudit should carry out after an agreed period of implementing changes (Bennadi et al, 2014). Regular auditing alerts the health care professional the shortfall (Patel, 2010) in health care delivery system. Also helps us to find out whether staffs are practicing as per standards set by the organization to achieve therapeutic (Patel, 2010) patient care, identifies the factors causing failure to make improvements (Yorston Wormald, 2010). Therefore, organization can take actions to improve the area. Every time an audit cycle is completed there should be further improvement in patient care (Yorston and Wormald, 2010). Audit and feedback often used in health care setting to improve health care professional performance. Discrepancies in health care practices against set standards are highlighted in clinical audit that helps to identify the practices needed to improve for quality care (Esposito Canton, 2014). Tsaloglidou explains that the key for quality assurance and consistent delivery of high quality health services is the appropriate organization of the health center environment. The benefits of audit are apparent for health care professionals as it reduces frustration, reduces organizational and clinical error, improves communications between professionals and secures effective medical defense through risk avoidance (Tsaloglidou, 2009). An audit is not only a tool for monitoring change in clinical practice, but also an educational tool (Tsaloglidou, 2009). As the improvement of health care is a cost-effective procedure, audit is revealed to be a very useful tool in management Limitations of clinical audit Educational and training issue has a huge impact on carrying out an effective audit. Audit should not consider as a light work. It does require knowledge, experience and skills to perform effectively because auditing required to choose appropriate question, analytical method and to be undertaken in a sensitive (Hughes, 2010) way. In general, audit tends to be an activity that be undertaken by anyone without proper training and analytical skills with an aim to improve clinical practice. Nevertheless, it is very important for the staff member who will take on to implement the audit cycle to have proper training, supervision and protected time (Mercel et al, 2006). Bowie et al identified that lack of protected time to conduct a clinical audit is a major disadvantage for health care professional. They have to do it within their own allocated clinical time. Therefore, it can potentially affect direct patient care when allocating clinical time for auditing. It is not possible to justify leaving wards understaffed and underfunded to undertake audit unless instant results are attained (Esposito Canton, 2014, Ellis et al, 2000, Hughes 2005). Subsequently it causes additional workload on key staff members when undertaking an audit (Collis, 2006, Johnston et al, 2000). Lack of support from management to make audit related improvements and changes with the view of providing quality patient care. Inadequate organizational monitoring of auditing activities and progress is a barrier to make changes in patient care. It can lead to frustration and distress on auditors (Bowie et al, 2012, Hughes, 2005). Indirect situational factors influence the success of auditing such as lack of time and resources, lack of supervision, lack of support from management, conflict within multidisciplinary team, negative attitudes associated with audit process ((Travaglia Debono, 2009, Hughes, 2005). A systematic review of Cochrane study of 140 studies tested the effectiveness of clinical audit outcome against other methods of study such as meetings and distribution of printed materials. Results were variable. Audit outcome ranges from negative outcome to very positive effect. When the audit was effective, results range from small to moderate. Moreover, the study concluded that effectiveness of audit is likely greater, when baseline adherence to recommended practice is low. Therefore, there is no clear scientific evidence to support the real effectiveness of clinical audit (Esposito Canton, 2014, Ivers et al, 2014). Conclusion In general, clinical audit considered as an effective and cost effective method for continuous quality improvement even though there are numerous limitations. Therefore, it is important to pay more attention to clinicians having trouble in auditing and to determine what recommendations are made to make the audit more effective. In order to overcome the difficulties of audit, auditors need to be clear about the areas of clinical practice audited. In addition, it is very important to know the difference between audit and research to avoid inappropriate data collection while conducting an audit. Clearly, audit and research serve two distinctive purposes. References Abbasi, K., Heath, A. (2005). Ethics review of research and audit, BMJ, 330(7489), 431-432. doi: 10.1136/bmj.330.7489.431 Bennadi, D., Konekeri, V., Kshetrimayum, N., Sibyl, S., Reddy, V. (2014). Clinical audit a literature review, Journal of international dental and medical research, 7 (2), 49-55.Retrieved from http://www.ektodermaldisplazi.com/journal.htm. Difference between audit and research (2014), Audit vs research, retrieved from http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-audit-and-vs-research/ Esposito, P., Canton, A.D. (2014). Clinical audit, a valuable tool to improve quality of care: General methodology and applications in nephrology, World journal of nephrology, 3(4), 249-255. doi: 10.5527/wjn.v3.i4.249. Hughes, R. (2005). Is audit research? The relationships between clinical audit and social research, International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, 18(4), 289-299. doi: 10.1108/09526860510602550. Mercel, S.W., Sevar, K., Sadutshan, T.D. (2006). Using clinical audit to improve the quality of obstetric care at the Tibetan Delek Hospital in North India: a logitudinal study. Quality health care, 3(4), 1-4. doi:: 10.1186/1742-4755-3-4 Nettleton, J. Ireland, A. (2000). Junior doctors views on clinical audit. Has anything changed?, International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance,13(6), 245-53. Retrieved from careers.bmj.com/careers/advice/Quality improvement. Patel, S. ( 2010).Iidentifying best practice principles of audit in health care, Nursing standard, 24 (32), 40-48. Retrieved from journals.rcni.com/doi/pdfplus/10.7748/ns2011.01.25.19.51.c8271. Travaglia, J., Debono,D. ( 2009) Clinical audit: a comprehensive review of the literature, Centre for Clinical Governance Research, University of New South Wales, Sydney Australia . Retrieved from http://health.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/literature_review_clinical_audit.pdf Tsaloglidou, A. (2009). Does audit improve the quality of care, International journal of caring sciences, 2(2), 65- 72. Retrieved from http://www.internationaljournalofcaringsciences.org Twycross, A., Shorten, A. (2014). Service evaluation, audit and research: what is the difference?, Evid Based Nursing , 17(3), 65-67. doi:10.1136/eb-2014-101871 Yorston, D., Wormald, R. (2010). Clinical auditing to improve patient outcomes, Community eye health journal, 23(74), 48-49. Retrieved from www.cehjournal.org/article/clinical-auditing-to-improve-patient-outcomes.

Human trafficking and child sex trafficking

Human trafficking and child sex trafficking In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the research of human trafficking, both in general and in child sex trafficking as a specific and crucial phenomenon. According to the U.S. Department of State (2007) trafficking is one of the fastest growing criminal enterprises with an approximate number of 800.000 victims each year trafficked over international borders. Anti-trafficking campaigns and NGOs have mushroomed and anti-trafficking policies have become important features of both international development agencies and governmental agendas (Piper 2005:203). Largely, scholars have concentrated their research on South East Asia; a region which is often described as the hub of trafficking in persons, particularly for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Since the UN Transitional Authority period child sex trafficking and child sex tourism have been identified as a specific problems and Cambodia has become the focus of many UN activities. Child sex trafficking is describ ed as relatively new phenomenon in Cambodia which did not exist before 1970 (Archivantitkul: 1998). The political and economic landscape of Cambodia as well as moral and social values have changed considerably in the last three decades since the Khmer Rouge regime. This fact makes Cambodia particularly vulnerable for people who seek to make a profit from the poverty of people who may be overwhelmed by the ongoing fast changing impacts which come to their country. South-East Asia has a large scale of undocumented labour migration. Those migrations flows are greatly facilitated by recruiters in destination and origin countries which can cause an exploitative situation. There is a fine line between the issues of migrant smuggling and trafficking and their distinctions are often blurred. Therefore, trafficking has to be seen as a part of migration flows (Piper 2005: 207). Most of human trafficking activities in South East Asia, particularly in the Mekong sub-region, take place domestically and so one can refer more to a regional or national problem than to an international one (ibid.:204). This part of the issue should be considered carefully as different patterns such as globalisation and the socio-economic conditions play an important role and could make trafficking in Cambodia again an international problem considering the causes ( ibid.:205). The definition of trafficking has changed considerably in the last number of decades and yet there is still no consensus about a universally valid definition (Laczko 2005: 10). The lack of a common definition together with the refusal of some states to recognise the existence of trafficking within their country makes it hard to combat this issue effectively on a global scale (Savona and Stefanizzi 2007: 2). In 2000, the UN General Assembly adopted the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons  [1]  , also known as the Palermo Protocol. The protocol offers for the first time a legally binding international definition of trafficking as the control of one person over another for the purpose of exploitation: Trafficking in persons shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs. Human trafficking and in particular child sex trafficking is considered by different scholars and studies (e.g. Williams and Masika 2002; Jana 2002; Asia Regional Cooperation to Prevent People Trafficking 2003) as a highly gendered topic. Despite the lack of research and accurate data on trafficking patterns, and it is clear that the majority of trafficking victims are women and girls (UNODC, 2006). Hence, one can say that trafficking is so often seen to be caused and facilitated by unequal gender relations and patriarchal values and systems (Williams and Masika 2002: 6). Undeniably, this creates of vulnerabilities and therefore human rights violations on women and children. Understanding the gender dimensions of this phenomenon is crucial to obtain a clear picture of the recruitment of trafficking victims up to the development of policy strategies and campaigns to combat these human rights violations. 1.1. The construction of the victim of child sex trafficking Existing research as well as political and criminal justice activity has the tendency to focus on the offender and their identification and punishment, rather than considering the victims of sex trafficking as equal players. This reflects a traditional criminology research approach which is often criticised by victimology discourse (Goody 2005: 239). Despite the large amount of literature and research which addresses child sex trafficking in Cambodia, there remains a gap about the conceptualisation of the victim of child sex trafficking. From a western perspective, victim conceptions are diverse which can be seen for instance in the ideal victim (Christie 1986) and in social constructivism views (e.g. Schà ¼tz 1962). Therefore it is also vital to consider the gender perspective of trafficking and the social role and construction of women and girls in the Cambodian society today in contrast to the past. For a better understanding of the origin of the construction perceptions it is interesting to take a closer look at constructivism theory. The concept of the victim underlies a construction of a certain reality within a culture, a society and in particular an institution. Those constructions of realities can be seen in the light of constructivism which means the construction of social realities. The theory of social constructivism has been contributed to by Schà ¼tz (1962), Berger and Luckmann (1966) and Gergen (1985, 1999). Regarding the construction of knowledge Schà ¼tz (1962: 5) argues that (a)ll our knowledge of the world, in common sense as well as in scientific thinking, involves constructs, i.e. a set of abstractions, generalizations, formalizations, idealizations, specific to the relevant level of thought organization. In terms of constructing the picture of a victim one can assume that the content of a perception is constructed in an active- constructive process of production rather than a passive- receptive process of representation (Flick 2004: 89). We find access to our world of experience which includes natural and social environment as well as certain conceptions by the construction of concepts and knowledge which are used to interpret experiences, understanding and attribution of meaning (ibid.: 90). It is crucial to regard the construction of knowledge and concepts in the context of social research and figure out the relevance for the present dissertation. Schà ¼tz (1962: 208ff) describes that social research uses pre-existing everyday constructs out of everyday knowledge and constructs with this another more formalised and generalised version of the world (Flick 2004: 91). Due to the lack of research about the conception of a victim in Cambodian society, my dissertation will focus on the social construct of a child sex trafficking victim and how it differs depending on the social environment or society the child is living in. This research seeks to identify the concept of a child sex trafficking victim which NGOs, International Organisation and the Cambodian government develop campaigns and policies to combat trafficking on. To get a clearer picture of the causes of child victim Piper (2005) claims that there is more research required into pre-trafficking situations (evidence of child abuse, family situation, and socio-economic pressure on family) and the challenges faced by trafficked victims who return to their countries and/ or regions of origin. Also the question arises of whether the victim can attain victim status after being returned to the family or whether stigmatisation causes him/her to be seen as an outcast. I would like to consider these issues for my qualitative interviews with NGOs and governmental representatives in Cambodia. 1.2. Additional literature review Apart from the literature referred to in the text above, essential texts for researching human trafficking and child sex trafficking in particular are e.g. Micollier (eds) (2004) who edited different essays which examine the social construction of sexuality, gender roles in the family, and gendered power relations in society in East Asia. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) also published various studies and books concerning human trafficking. The most contributive one for my research (IOM 2005), gathers a collection of essays that describe data collection and research of human trafficking from different countries. Relevant for the Mekong sub-region, Nicola Piper (2005) gives a review in this book about undertaken research on trafficking in South East Asia and Oceania. She highlights the gaps of knowledge in literature and research of trafficking issues. Savona and Stefanizzi (eds) (2007) and their contributors have a similar focus but offer a deeper analysis of migrat ion flows and trafficking and improving monitoring mechanisms for these complex criminal activities. An important study about human trafficking in Cambodia was undertaken by the Asia Regional Cooperation to Prevent People Trafficking (2003): Gender, Human Trafficking and the Criminal Justice System in Cambodia. Their research focus was on the gender perspective of trafficking and the underlying causes and contributing factors. Another study by the Asian Foundation (2006): A Review of a Decade of Research On Trafficking in Persons, Cambodia, aimed to provide a systematically review on trafficking related research about the consequences, scopes and patterns of trafficking. They review more trafficking in general and in its various patterns. Child sex trafficking is considered in a small but well researched paragraph. Summing up, these key readings and studies all critically asses human trafficking and offer a variety of valid perspectives on the phenomenon. 2. Research question and aim Research question As introduced to in the paragraph above, my research question arises out of a literature gap.: What type of conceptualisation of a victim do victim support centres, NGOs and the government in Cambodia have and how do those concepts influence their work, campaigns and policy strategies? Research aim The research aim is to identify the different existing constructions of a child sex trafficking victims in Cambodia provided and to explore if the social and cultural construction of a trafficked child differs depending on society and social environment like shelters or vocational training programme the child lives in or is involved in. Possible sub-questions that contribute to the research question are: How do children become victims of trafficking? What is the social construction of women and girls in Cambodia? Explore the historical development of the term child and juvenile in Cambodia in legal and cultural ways. Is there a changing meaning of those terms? How important is virginity for Cambodian men? 3. Research Method/ Design According to Flick (2006), the foundation of qualitative research is the reconstruction of social realities. Through the exploration of subjective perceptions, patterns of interpretation, structural characteristics and the latent meaning of action, a deeper understanding of a study field can be achieved. Thereby, no proband taming takes place by presetting of answering categories, but it creates a space for individual perspectives of the study field (Muckel 1996: 66). The general claim of qualitative research is to describe life worlds from the inside out, from the point of view of the people who participate (Flick et al: 3), to contribute to a better understanding of social realities. In comparison to quantitative social research where one examine already formulated hypothesis, the aim of qualitative research is to discover new ideas and to develop empirically justified theories (Flick 2006: 15). Though, the communication of the researches of the particular field, i.e. the subjectiv ity of the researcher and the researched, becomes an essential component of the research process and the finding (Flick 2006). Contrary to quantitative research controlling or excluding influence from the researched as interfering variables, in qualitative research the reflection of the researchers actions, his perceptions and observations as well as impressions and irritations are involved in the data evaluation process (ibid.: 16). The openness to the primary world of the researched and their different constructions of reality as well as according to the applied research methods are a basic characteristic of qualitative research (ibid.). My research interest focuses on the subjective views and conception of the victim of child sex trafficking in Cambodia. Therefore it is essential to apply qualitative research methods. In the following I will describe the chosen methods of collecting and evaluating data. 3.1. Method of data collection The dissertation seeks to asses NGOs, crisis centres and governmental agencies conceptions and views of the victim of child sex trafficking in Cambodia. The aim is to examine how their construction of a child victim influences their project, campaigns and policies. This interrelation is possible to depict verbally but not easily to detect throughout observation processes due to ethical considerations. The observation of the work with victims is ethically not justifiable in such a short research time frame as the identity with victims is strictly confidential and observation is not approved by the organisations or shelters if the researcher is not able to stay at least 2 month. Therefore the qualitative interview with the organisations and shelters was chosen as a research method. The main interest is to find out about particular perceptions and more complex argumentations. Therefore the questioning should be more active and probing (Hopf 2004: 204). Semi-structured Interview The semi-structured interview is an appropriate approach to explore the subjective perception and theories that stands behind my questionnaire. Scheele and Groeben (1988) introduced this approach to explore the construction and subjective theories behind everyday knowledge and the field of study (Flick 2006: 155). Their assumption was that interviewees are encouraged to express their perceptions and their reasoning behind certain topics in a natural manner if the interviewer provides a semi-structured question setting. Therefore one can reconstruct the subjective theories and views of the interviewee for the purpose of the study. The main elements of the semi-structured interview are open and confrontational questions. (see box 1) They offer the interviewee space to express their perception and knowledge. The confrontational question has a responsive function to the subjective theories offered by the interviewee and is asking a competing alternative to re-examine the opinions (ibid.: 156). An example for my research would be: (Text box 1) Another set of questions would be hypothesis-directed questions (see text box 2) which test scientific literature written about the research topic (ibid.). They give the interviewee the chance to become more explicit and help the interviewer to get the required information for the researched topic: (Text box 2) In specific: the Expert Interview The expert interview is a subcategory of the semi-structured interview. The approach of the dissertation questionnaire is to interview on the one hand service providers like victim support centre, crisis centres and NGOs that support the victim needs and rights. On the other hand it is an aim to speak to the Cambodian government which means in particular MP Mu Sochua of the Ministry of Womens and Veterans Affairs (MWVA). Here the interest is not so much the biographic background of the actual person but more the perception of the actual institution or the Cambodian Parliament about the research topic. The interviewees are seen as representatives for a certain group not as individuals (Flick 2006: 165). There are several research practical amenities for the expert interview. In an early exploration phase of a theoretical, less prestructured and informational less cross-linked research, the expert interview offers unrivalled dense data acquisition. This stands in contrast to the elaborate, cost and time-intensive accomplishment of participant observation, field study and systematic quantitative research (Bogner and Menz 2005: 7). It is recommended to choose expert interviews if a study field is hard or impossible to access especially when it comes to delicate issues like child sex trafficking and child prostitution. Beside the economic advantages and the chance to get information even about an awkward issue, another advantage is the facilitation of further field access when the expert refers to other colleagues and dialogue partners. It should also be noted out of a methodological view that a further benefit is that it is much easier to interview an expert as they usually have a higher linguistic competence which contributes directly to the analysis of the narrative. Hence, in an idealised conception, two academic socialised dialogue partners meet in this interview setting (ibid.: 8). To ensure validity of my research and to ascertain patterns of the construction of the victim of child sex trafficking, I intend to carry out 15-20 interviews with victim support centres, Human Rights NGOs who are concerned about child sex trafficking and government representatives (all in Phnom Penh). All institutions are contacted via email and telephone to arrange an appointment during my field trip in Cambodia and to offer them an outline of the research project which gives them the opportunity to prepare for the questions. I will use open-ended questions that give the interviewee space to present their perceptions and views. It also allows for the emergence of new topics that were not originally thought to be part of the interview. I will prepare 8 broad topics for the interviews that are formulated as broad questions and introduce them one after the other  [2]  . Depending on the interview course, I will specify the topics and ask in more detail to clarify vague formulations. 3.2. Limitations Whilst there are many advantages to this research design, there are also several limitations to the expert interview. Meuser and Nagel (2002:87) identify the expert might not always react as desired where their expertise may emerge as being limited and impede the interview process. Further, they identify the eventuality that the interviewee may not t participate in the question-answering game (Flick 2006:165) giving instead a speech to promote their knowledge and/or agenda. Whilst this can sometimes contribute to the research topic, it can also digress from the point and make it difficult to return to the original question. Another potential weakness of expert interviews is that the interviewee can change roles from being an expert to being a private person. Whereby, the interview looses objectiveness and private/ personal perceptions and bias may interfere with the representation of the institution or expert knowledge (ibid.). To ensure reliability for this method it is crucial that the interviewee, here the expert, understands the research context and the questions fully. Bulmer and Warwick (1983) identify the difficulties of conducting social research in developing countries which gives this research proposal an interesting angle. It is widely recognised that the availability of social data in developing countries is limited. Existing data is often of poor quality and therefore of little use due to limited administrative capacity, lack of manpower and infrastructure (ibid.: 4-5). The validity might be restricted and misleading if one relies only on administrative sources. The Cambodian law enforcement agencies and administration are perceived as the most corrupt sector. The Global Corruption Barometer also shows that 70% of the citizens are likely to pay bribes to the police (Anti- Corruption Resource Centre 2009) which proves the normality and explicitness of corruption within the population. When it comes to delicate issues such as human trafficking high ranking Cambodian law enforcement official are believed to accept bribes to facilitate human trafficking and child prostitution (US Department of State Human Rights Report 2006). A revealing example for corruption compliance within sex trafficking is the former Deputy Director of the Police Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Department and two officials under his supervision were convicted and imprisoned for facilitating human trafficking (Anti- Corruption Resource Centre 2009). Due to the ubiquity of corr uption, corruption this must be recognised within my research and considered when seeking out NGOs, who can offer a different picture of the reality throughout their mandate, their reports and research. With this considering and an awareness of these potential difficulties and obstacles within the interview process, a valid data collection can be better guaranteed. If one does so, the expert interview can be a very useful and powerful source to generate valid data. After weighing up the variety of pro and cons, the expert interview is an appropriate interview method for this research to provide an interpretative account of the concept a child sex trafficking victim. 3.3. Alternative Method: Problem-centered Interview (PCI) Initially the problem-centered interview (Witzel 1982; 1985) was considered as an appropriate interview method for my research question about construction of a victim. The principles of the problem-centred interview are to gather objective evidence on human behaviour as well as on subjective perceptions and ways of processing social reality (Witzel 2000:1). In this sense, the basic concern is the exploration of subjective cognition, approaches, motivation for actions and situation al interpretations. In contrast, the narrative interview (Hopf 2004: 206) is considered in this context to be inadequate because it produces a lot of material which leads to a huge data amount. Further, there should be no intervention in the process where the role of the interviewer is an attentive listener. This would be inappropriate considering the specific research questionnaire in mind and the given time frame. The problem-centered interview to large extent draws upon Glasers and Strausss (1967) theory generating method of the Grounded Theory. The primary reason for excluding this research method is the fact that it is a biographic focused interview where the biography and personal experiences of the interviewee are integral to the data generated. The expert knowledge of a certain field or of a particular organisation and expertise which mirrors the ideology of that institution is of more use than the biography of the expert and their personal motivations and views. Nevertheless, the research interest is to ascertain and interpret why the concept of the victim is constructed as described by the organisation experts and why it might differ from Western views of the child as a victim of sex trafficking. Therefore cultural and social constructions of realities have to be included. 3.4. Data analysis The reliability of this study will be maximised by transcribing all interviews conducted and building categories based on an initial reading of the transcripts. This process is described as coding (e.g. Flick 2006: 295 and Seale 2004: 306ff) which is based in based in grounded theory as discussed earlier  [3]  . Seale identifies that the purpose of coding qualitative data is to reduce large amounts of data and to develop and test out theories (2004: 313). The main challenging task for the researcher is to filter out comparisons and identify similarities and differences in the interview material. For my research I will use open coding which means the process of breaking down, examining, comparing, conceptualising and categorizing data (Strauss and Corbin 1990: 61). The coding strategy enables me to analyse the concepts of the victim of child sex trafficking, group them into categories and subsequently discuss them in depth. The last step of coding is a list of terms together with an explanatory text (Bà ¶hm 2004: 271). 3.5. Ethics in qualitative research Multiple ethical considerations arise throughout the research process for this dissertation. Starting from the research design and the appropriateness of certain methods to collecting data and further on to the point of analysing the gathered data. More recently there has been a paradigm shift from the ethical concerns in social research concerned with the ways in which participants are affected by the research to a more post-structuralist approach which includes the social world and the knowable and objective truth is uncovered by researchers (Ali and Kelly 2004: 116). A crucial influence in social research ethics comes from feminist researchers who emphasise [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] the role of power relations at all levels of knowledge production, from epistemology, through research relationships, to the dissemination of findings (ibid.). Research regarding child sex trafficking can be seen from the perspective of feminist research as it is a highly gendered topic. It is therefore crucia l to consider feminist research practices and its related ethical elements. A primary aim of feminist research is to contest and dispute the marginalised status of woman, and in this particular case vulnerable child, by representing their needs, perspectives and perceptions (Gillies and Alldred 2005: 39). There have been many controversies surrounding the role of the researcher in the production of knowledge about women and representing the Other (Wilkonson and Kitzinger 1996, in: Gillies and Alldred 2005: 39). The ethical concerns posed when carrying out research on trafficked children as such a vulnerable group are profound. I therefore consider it ethically unjustifiable to interview children about their experience with sexual exploitation within this short research period. Such an approach could potentially cause further distress to an already vulnerable and exploited subject group. As such, I have therefore decided against interviewing victims of trafficking and will conduct interviews exclusively with experts. Respect will be given to existing ethical precautions and regulations for social research whilst also acknowledging that an ethical practice will often comes down to the professional integrity of the individual researcher (Ali and Kelly 2004: 118). Translator difficulties A further challenge to potentially interviewing victims would be the requirement of a translator which can creates a multitude of problems: The dynamic can create a tense and unbalanced atmosphere for the victims to talk comfortably. There is a risk that the translator may not translate the verbatim accurately. Finally, interpretation of the language particulars of the victim is crucial to the data and therefore not understanding Khmer creates a large obstacle when reviewing the interview translations. This may be hard to overcome even with a translator. In consideration of this I decided to interview English speaking NGOs and government representatives. How generalisable will our results be to the sectors as a whole? 5. Timescale from 15th April to 2nd September Date 2010 Literature Review Contacts Questionnaire Design Fieldwork Cambodia Data Processing Data Analysis Write Report Submit Report April 15 * April 22 * April29 * * April 6 * * * May13 * * * May20 * * * May 27 * June 3 * * June 10 * June 17 * * June 24 * * July 1 * * July 8 * * July 15 * * July 22 * * July 29 * Aug 5 * * Aug 12 * * Aug 19 * Aug 26 * Sep 2 * Sep 9 * Sep 15 * (Bloch, A. (2010) Timescales for Research Project: The Professional Capacity of Nationals from the Somali Regions in the UK, Moodle City University, slides of lecture 6) 6. Bibliography Books and journal articles: Ali, S. and Kelly, M. (2004) Ethics and social research, in Seale, C. Researching Society and Culture. London [et al.]: Sage Publications. Archivantitkul, K. (1998) Trafficking in children for forced labour exploitation including child prostitution in the Mekong sub-region. Bangkok: ILO-IPEC. Asia Regional Cooperation to Prevent People Trafficking (2003) Gender, Human Trafficking and the Criminal Justice System in Cambodia http://wwww.humantrafficking.org/uploads/updates/gender_report_cambodia.pdf [accessed 7th April 2010]. Berger, P.L. and Luckmann, T. (1966) The Social Construction of Reality. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. Bloch, A. (2010) Timescales for Research Project: The Professional Capacity of Nationals from the Somali Regions in the UK, Moodle City University, slides of lecture 6. Bogner, A., Menz, W. (2005) Expertenwissen und Forschungspraxis: die modernisierungstheoretische und die methodische Debatte um die Experten., in Das Experteninterview: Theorie, Methode, Anwendung. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag FuÃÅ'ˆr Sozialwissenschaften. Bà ¶hm, A. (2004) Theoretical Coding: Text Analysis in Grounded Theory, in Flick et al A Companion to Qualitative Research. London[et al.]: Sage Publications. Bulmer, M., Warwick, D. (1983) Social Research in developing countries. Surveys and Censuses in the Third World. Chichester [West Sussex]: Wiley. Christie, N. (1986) The Ideal Victim, in Fattah, E.A. From Crime Policy to Victim Policy. Reorienting the justice system. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillan. Flick, U., von Kardorff, E. and Steinke, I. (2004) A Companion to Qualitative Research. London [et al.]: Sage Publications. Flick, U. (2004) Constructivism, in Flick,U., von Kardorff, E. and Steinke, I. A Companion to Qualitative

The Queen Of Air And Darkness Essay -- essays research papers

The Queen of Air and Darkness   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the Queen of Air and Darkness Morgause raises four boys. She is not a good mother, and she does not give her boys a sense of right and wrong. She often ignores them for days at a time and beats them when they displease her. She acts as if they were pets rather than human beings, to be loved or not at her convenience . But despite this common maltreatment, the boys turn out very differently.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gawaine is the oldest of the boys and in many ways the most normal. He becomes a knight in Arthur's court, fighting for him loyally. The way in which he is affected by his upbringing is his rages. When provoked Gawaine goes into a berserk rage in which he does things he would normally never do. When Gawaine and Agravaine are arguing over whether or not to write a letter to their father about the knights, Agravaine refuses to say he is wrong, so Gawaine goes berserk and attacks him. He does not simply beat him, but chokes him and slams his head against the floor until Gareth pulls him off. If Gareth had not been there, Gawaine very well might have killed his younger brother. Gawaine even kills a women when worked up to a rage. These rages are a product of the unhealthy childhood he endured.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The next child, Agravaine, is probably the least well adjusted of the four. He tends to be sadistic and self-centered. The children were told the tale of the King of Ireland by St...

The Gap Inc Essays -- Business and Management Studies

The Gap Inc 1. Case Summary The Gap, Inc is a chain of retail stores that sell casual apparel, shoes, and accessories for men, woman and children. Headquarter in San Francisco; the stores operate under a variety of names including: Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy Clothing Company, Gap Kids, and baby Gap. All merchandise sold by chain is private label. The Gap was founded in 1969 when Donald Fisher and his wife, Doris opened a small clothing store near San Francisco State University. By 1971 they were operating six Gap stores. In 1995, Fisher retired as CEO and Drexler, now age 50, took over the title. The Gap contracted with over 500 manufacturers around the world that made the companies private label apparel according to Gap specifications. Gap, Inc purchased about 30 % of its cloth from manufacturer located in United State and 70% from vendor located in 46 foreign countries. No single supplier provided more than 5 % of its merchandise. In the wake of concern over third world working conditions, the Gap also adopted a set of sourcing principle and guideline. This provide standard that the vendors had to meet including: engage in no form of discrimination, used no forced or prison labor, employee no children under 14 years of age, provide a safe working environment for employees, pay the legal minimum weight of the local industry standard- whichever is greater. The Gap’s supplier should also meet all applicable local environmental regulation, and comply with the Gap own more stringent environmental standards, neither threaten nor penalize employees for their efforts to organize or bargain collectively and uphold local custom laws. To ensure compliance with its standards, the Gap sends a Gap Field Representative to conduct in-depth interview with a prospective supplier prior to the initiation of a business relationship. The Gap supplier in Salvador, run by Mandarin International, Taiwanese-owned Company that operated apparel assembly plants around the world. The Gap had begun contracting with Mandarin plants in El Salvador in 1992. A worker there was paid approximately 12 cents for assembling a Gap three-quarter sleeves t-shirt or turtle neck, which retailed at about $20 in the United States. Wages at the Mandarin plants averaged 56 cents an hour-a level that was claimed to provide only 80% of the amount neede... ...arin employee who make Gap product. - The Gap should make sure the entire supplier fulfills its sourcing principle and guidelines. The supplier which doesn’t implemented the entire Gap standard and the local government standard, the Gap should avoid doing business with them. - Mandarin International done unethical business by not allowing their employee to make union (fired all the union members) and all the unethical behavior toward the employee. Recommendation - The Gap should choose their supplier carefully and maximize the Gap field representative by put an eyes and do the regular inspection not only when they start the business but always monitoring the working and social condition of the supplier to comply with the Gap code of conduct and also the local government laws. - The Gap representative officer should do the interview without being known by the Mandarin International, so the employee would be freely to speak about what really happened in the factory. - The Gap should give more effort to increase the quality of live their supplier employee which usually in the third world by giving education or other benefit.

Cosmopolitanism: Cultures Essay

The essay â€Å"Making Conversation† by Kwame Antony Appiah is a reflection on the term â€Å"cosmopolitanism† and the steps people in any nation have to take in order to achieve â€Å"cosmopolitanism† and â€Å"globalization†. He brings up the point of how all cultures have their similarities and differences and in most cases these differences are so different that it makes these cultures hard to connect with one another. He believes that conversation is the first and most important step to the understanding of others. Appiah explains how all cultures have standards that they believe to be the norm and how some cultures with also find these customs acceptable while others will find them repulsive. Due to the nature of all human beings, people tend to only think of themselves as having the correct views on the world and are less accepting of the beliefs of others. I wholeheartedly agree with Appiah as he says how small agreements essential to eventually having two cultures that work in harmony for long periods of time. Over time, this will eventually open up people’s minds to other cultures, customs and beliefs. Citizens of each culture will then learn to accept the beliefs of others and by â€Å"changing our minds† we will slowly move towards becoming more cosmopolitan and globalized. But only when all citizens of a nation become completely accepting of everyone’s beliefs without necessarily agreeing with them at all will the nation and culture fit the definition of cosmopolitan and become completely globalized. Only the nations that will strive to accept other cultures will become globalized. These countries will then become an asset to communications between all other countries on this Earth and become a successful and thriving nation.

Spirit Bound Chapter Fourteen

THE LAST TIME TATIANA HAD wanted to yell at me, she'd simply taken me to one of her private sitting rooms. It had made for a weird atmosphere, like we were at teatime–except people didn't usually scream at other people during teatime. I had no reason to believe this would be any different†¦ until I noticed my escort was leading me to the main business buildings of the Court, the places where all royal governing was conducted. Shit. This was more serious than I'd thought. And indeed, when I was finally ushered into the room where Tatiana waited†¦ well, I nearly came to a standstill and couldn't enter. Only a slight touch on my back from one of the guardians with me kept me moving forward. The place was packed. I didn't know for sure which room I was in. The Moroi actually kept a bona fide throne room for their king or queen, but I didn't think this was it. This room was still heavily decorated, conveying an old-world royal feel, with painstakingly carved floral molding and shining gold candleholders on the walls. There were actually lit candles in them too. Their light reflected off the metallic decorations in the room. Everything glittered, and I felt like I'd stumbled into a stage production. And really, I might as well have. Because after a moment's surveying, I realized where I was. The people in the room were split. Twelve of them sat at a long table on a dais at what was clearly meant to be the focal point of the room. Tatiana herself sat at the middle of the table, with six Moroi on one side and five Moroi on the other. The other side of the room was simply set with rows of chairs–still elaborate and padded with satin cushions–which were also filled with Moroi. The audience. The people sitting on either side of Tatiana were the tip-off. They were older Moroi, but ones who carried a regal air. Eleven Moroi for the eleven acting royal families. Lissa was not eighteen–though she was about to be, I realized with a start–and therefore had no spot yet. Someone was sitting in for Priscilla Voda. I was looking at the Council, the princes and princesses of the Moroi world. The oldest member of each family claimed the royal title and an advisory spot beside Tatiana. Sometimes the eldest waived the spot and gave it to someone the family felt was more capable, but the selectee was almost always at least forty-five. The Council elected the Moroi king or queen, a position held until death or retirement. In rare circumstances, with enough backing from the royal families, a monarch could be forcibly removed from office. Each prince or princess on the Council was in turn advised by a family council, and glancing back at the audience, I recognized clusters of family members sitting together: Ivashkovs, Lazars, Badicas†¦ The very back rows appeared to be observers. Tasha and Adrian sat together, and I knew for a fact they weren't members of the Royal Council or family councils. Still, seeing them set me at ease a little. I remained near the entrance to the room, shifting uneasily from foot to foot, wondering what was in store. I hadn't just earned public humiliation; I'd apparently earned it in front of the most important Moroi in the world. Wonderful. A gangly Moroi with patchy white hair stepped forward, around the side of the long table, and cleared his throat. Immediately, the hum of conversation died. Silence filled the room. â€Å"This session of the Moroi Royal Council is now in order,† he declared. â€Å"Her Royal Majesty, Tatiana Marina Ivashkov, is presiding.† He gave a slight bow in her direction and then discretely backed off to the side of the room, standing near some guardians who lined the walls like decorations themselves. Tatiana always dressed up at the parties I saw her at, but for a formal event like this, she was really channeling the queen look. Her dress was long-sleeved navy silk, and a glittering crown of blue and white stones sat atop her elaborately braided hair. In a beauty pageant, I would have written such gems off as rhinestones. On her, I didn't question for a moment that they were real sapphires and diamonds. â€Å"Thank you,† she said. She was also using her royal voice, resonant and impressive, filling the room. â€Å"We will be continuing our conversation from yesterday.† Wait†¦ what? They'd been discussing me yesterday too? I noticed then that I'd wrapped my arms around myself in a sort of protective stance and immediately dropped them. I didn't want to look weak, no matter what they had in store for me. â€Å"Today we will be hearing testimony from a newly made guardian.† Tatiana's sharp gaze fell on me. The whole room's did. â€Å"Rosemarie Hathaway, will you please come forward?† I did, keeping my head high and posture confident. I didn't exactly know where to stand, so I picked the middle of the room, directly facing Tatiana. If I was going to be paraded in public, I wished someone would have tipped me off to wear guardian black and white. Whatever. I'd show no fear, even in jeans and a T-shirt. I gave a small, proper bow and then met her eyes directly, bracing for what was to come. â€Å"Will you please state your name?† she asked. She'd already done it for me, but I still said, â€Å"Rosemarie Hathaway.† â€Å"How old are you?† â€Å"Eighteen?† â€Å"And how long have you been eighteen?† â€Å"A few months.† She waited a couple moments to let it sink in, as though this were important information. â€Å"Miss Hathaway, we understand that around that time, you withdrew from St. Vladimir's Academy. Is this correct?† That's what this was about? Not the Vegas trip with Lissa? â€Å"Yes.† I offered no more info. Oh God. I hoped she didn't get into Dimitri. She shouldn't have known about my relationship with him, but there was no telling what information could spread around here. â€Å"You went to Russia to hunt Strigoi.† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"As a type of personal revenge following the attack at St. Vladimir ‘s?† â€Å"Er†¦ yes.† No one said anything, but my response definitely caused a stir in the room. People shifted uneasily and glanced at their neighbors. Strigoi always inspired fear, and someone actively seeking them out was still an unusual concept among us. Oddly, Tatiana seemed very pleased by this confirmation. Was it going to be used as more ammunition against me? â€Å"We would assume then,† she continued, â€Å"that you are one of those who believe in direct strikes against the Strigoi?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Many had different reactions to the terrible attack at St. Vladimir's,† she said. â€Å"You aren't the only dhampir who wanted to strike back against the Strigoi–though you were certainly the youngest.† I hadn't known about others going on vigilante sprees–well, aside from some reckless dhampirs in Russia. If that was the story about my trip she was willing to believe, that was fine with me. â€Å"We have reports from both guardians and Alchemists in Russia that you were successful.† This was the first time I'd heard the Alchemists mentioned in public, but of course they'd be a common topic among the Council. â€Å"Can you tell me how many you killed?† â€Å"I†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I stared in surprise. â€Å"I'm not sure, Your Majesty. At least†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I racked my brain. â€Å"Seven.† It might have been more. She thought so too. â€Å"That might be a modest estimate compared to what our sources say,† she noted grandly. â€Å"Nonetheless, still an impressive number. Did you perform the kills by yourself?† â€Å"Sometimes I did. Sometimes I had help. There were†¦ some other dhampirs I worked with once in a while.† Technically, I'd had Strigoi help as well, but I wasn't going to mention that. â€Å"They were close to your age?† â€Å"Yes.† Tatiana said no more, and as though receiving a cue, a woman beside her spoke up. I believed she was the Conta princess. â€Å"When did you kill your first Strigoi?† I frowned. â€Å"Last December.† â€Å"And you were seventeen?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Did you perform that kill yourself?† â€Å"Well†¦ mostly. A couple friends helped with distraction.† I hoped they weren't going to push for more details. My first kill had occurred when Mason had died, and aside from the events surrounding Dimitri, that memory tormented me the most. But Princess Conta didn't want too many other details. She and the others–who soon joined in the questioning–mostly wanted to know about my kills. They were slightly interested in knowing when other dhampirs had helped me–but didn't want to go into when I'd had Moroi help. They also glossed over my disciplinary record, which I found baffling. The rest of my academic details were mentioned–my exceptional combat grades, how I'd been one of the best when Lissa and I had run away our sophomore year and how quickly I'd made up for lost time to become top in my class again (at least as far as fighting went). They talked also about how I'd protected Lissa whenever we were out in the world alone and finally concluded with my exceptional trial scores. â€Å"Thank you, Guardian Hathaway. You may leave.† Tatiana's dismissive voice left no room for doubt. She wanted me out of there. I was only too eager to comply, giving another bow, and then scurrying out. I cast a quick glance at Tasha and Adrian as I did, and the queen's voice rang out as I cleared the door, â€Å"That concludes our session today. We will convene again tomorrow.† I wasn't surprised when Adrian caught up with me a few minutes later. Hans hadn't ordered me to come back and work after the session, so I had decided to read that as freedom. â€Å"Okay,† I said, slipping my hand into Adrian's. â€Å"Enlighten me with your royal political wisdom. What was that all about?† â€Å"No clue. I'm the last person to ask about political stuff,† he said. â€Å"I don't even go to those things, but Tasha found me at the last minute and said to come with her. I guess she got a tip-off you'd be there–but she was just as confused.† Neither of us had said anything, but I realized I was leading him toward one of the buildings that housed commerce–restaurants, shops, etc. I was starving all of a sudden. â€Å"I got the impression this was part of something they'd already been talking about–she mentioned their last session.† â€Å"It was closed. Like tomorrow's. No one knows what they're discussing.† â€Å"Then why make this one public?† It didn't seem fair that the queen and Council could pick and choose what they shared with others. Everything should have been public. He frowned. â€Å"Probably because they're going to hold a vote soon, and that'll be public. If your testimony plays some role, then the Council may want to make sure other Moroi witnessed it–so that everyone understands the decision when it comes.† He paused. â€Å"But what do I know? I'm no politician.† â€Å"Makes it sound like it's already decided,† I grumbled. â€Å"Why have a vote at all? And why would I have anything to do with government?† He opened the door to a small cafe that sold light lunch food–burgers and sandwiches. Adrian had been raised with fancy restaurants and gourmet food. I think he preferred that, but he also knew I didn't like always being on display or being reminded that I was with a royal from an elite family. I appreciated that he'd known I'd just want something ordinary today. Nonetheless, our being together earned us a few curious glances and whispers from the diner's patrons. At the school, we'd been a source of speculation, but here at Court? We were a main-stage attraction. Images were important at Court, and most dhampir-Moroi relationships were carried out in secret. Us being so open–especially considering Adrian's connections–was scandalous and shocking, and people weren't always discreet with their reactions. I'd heard all sorts of things since returning to Court. One woman had called me shameless. Another had speculated aloud why Tatiana hadn't simply â€Å"dealt with me.† Fortunately, most of our audience was content to stare today, making them easy to ignore. There was a small line of thought on Adrian's forehead as we sat down at a table. â€Å"Maybe they're voting to make you Lissa's guardian after all.† I was so astonished that I couldn't say anything for several seconds when the waitress suddenly appeared. I finally stammered out my order and then stared at Adrian with wide eyes. â€Å"Seriously?† The session had been an examination of my skills, after all. It made sense. Except†¦ â€Å"No. The Council wouldn't go to the trouble of holding sessions for one guardian assignment.† My hopes fell. Adrian gave a shrug of acknowledgment. â€Å"True. But this isn't an ordinary guardian assignment. Lissa's the last of her line. Everyone–including my aunt–has a special interest in her. Giving her someone like you who's†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I gave him a dangerous look as he grasped for a word. â€Å"†¦ Controversial could upset some people.† â€Å"And that's why they actually wanted me there to describe what I've done. To convince people in person that I'm competent.† Even as I spoke the words, I still didn't dare believe them. It was too good to be true. â€Å"I just can't imagine it, seeing as I seem to be in so much trouble with the guardians.† â€Å"I don't know,† he said. â€Å"It's just a guess. Who knows? Maybe they do think the Las Vegas thing was just a harmless prank.† There was a bitter tone in his voice over that. â€Å"And I told you that Aunt Tatiana was coming around to you. Maybe she wants you as Lissa's guardian now but needs to make a public display to justify it.† That was a startling thought. â€Å"But if I do get to come with Lissa, what are you going to do? Get respectable and come to college too?† â€Å"I don't know,† he said, green eyes thoughtful as he sipped his drink. â€Å"Maybe I will.† That was also unexpected, and my conversation with his mother returned to my mind. What if I was Lissa's guardian in college and he was with us for the next four years? I was fairly certain Daniella had thought we'd be splitting up this summer. I'd thought so too†¦ and was surprised to feel how relieved I was that I might get to stay with him. Dimitri always left my heart full of pain and longing, but I still wanted Adrian in my life. I grinned at him and rested my hand on his. â€Å"I'm not sure what I'd do with you if you were respectable.† He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it. â€Å"I've got some suggestions,† he told me. I didn't know if it was his words or the feel of his mouth on my skin that sent shivers through me. I was about to ask what those suggestions were when our interlude was interrupted†¦ by Hans. â€Å"Hathaway,† he said, one eyebrow arched as he stood over us. â€Å"You and I have some very different ideas about the definition of ‘punishment.'† He had a point. In my mind, punishment involved easy things like lashings and starvation. Not filing. Instead, I replied, â€Å"You didn't tell me to come back after I saw the queen.† He gave me an exasperated look. â€Å"I also didn't tell you to go off on a playdate. Come on. Back to the vaults.† â€Å"But I have a BLT coming!† â€Å"You'll get your lunch break in another couple hours like the rest of us.† I tried to repress my outrage. They hadn't been feeding me bread crusts and water during my work detail, but the food hadn't tasted much better. Just then, the waitress returned with our food. I grabbed the sandwich before she even set the plates down and wrapped it in a napkin. â€Å"Can I take it to go?† â€Å"If you can eat it before we get back.† His voice was skeptical, seeing as the vault was pretty close. Clearly, he was underestimating my ability to consume food. In spite of Hans's disapproving expression, I gave Adrian a kiss goodbye and a look that told him maybe we'd continue our conversation. He gave me a happy, knowing smile that I only saw for a second before Hans ordered me away. True to my expectations, I managed to get the sandwich down before we arrived back at the guardians' building, though I did feel a little nauseous for the next half hour or so. My lunchtime was almost dinnertime for Lissa, out in the human world. Returning to my miserable punishment, I cheered up a little at the joy running through her via our bond. She'd spent the whole day on her campus tour of Lehigh, and it was everything she'd hoped it could be. She loved it all. She loved the beautiful buildings, the grounds, the dorms†¦ and especially the classes. A glimpse at the course catalog opened up a world of subjects that even St. Vladimir's superior education hadn't offered us. She wanted to see and do everything that the school had to offer. And even though she wished I was there, she was still excited about the fact that it was her birthday. Priscilla had given her some elaborate jewelry and had promised a fancy dinner that night. It wasn't exactly the type of celebration Lissa had hoped for, but the thrill of her eighteenth birthday was still intoxicating–particularly as she looked around at the dream school she'd be attending soon. I confess, I felt a pang of jealousy. Despite Adrian's theory about why the queen had called me in today, I knew–as did Lissa–that the odds of me going to college with her were still probably nonexistent. Some petty part of me couldn't understand how Lissa could therefore be excited about it if I wasn't going to be along. Childish of me, I know. I didn't have long to sulk, though, because once all the touring was done, Lissa's entourage returned to the hotel. Priscilla told them they could clean up for an hour or so before heading to dinner. For Lissa, this meant more fighting-practice time. My brooding mood immediately turned irate. Things got worse when I realized that earlier in the day, Serena had told Grant about Lissa and Christian's desire to defend themselves. He apparently thought that it was a good idea too. It would figure. Lissa had two progressive guardians. Why couldn't she have gotten some stodgy, old-school person who would be horrified at the thought of a Moroi even thinking about fighting off a Strigoi? So, while I sat helpless and unable to smack sense into any of them, Lissa and Christian now had two instructors. Not only did this mean more learning opportunities, it also meant Serena had a competent partner to demonstrate certain moves with. She and Grant sparred, explaining maneuvers while Lissa and Christian watched wide-eyed. Fortunately (well, not for Lissa), she and I soon noticed something. The guardians didn't know the true reason Lissa was interested in fighting. They had no idea–how could they have?–that she wanted to go hunt and stake a Strigoi in the feeble hope of bringing him back to life. They thought she just wanted to learn basic defense, something that seemed very sensible to them. So that was what they taught. Grant and Serena also made Lissa and Christian practice on each other. I suspected there were a couple reasons for this. One was that Lissa and Christian didn't have the skill to do much damage to each other. The second reason was that it amused the guardians. It did not amuse Lissa and Christian. There was still so much tension between them, both sexual and angry, that they resented being in such close contact. Grant and Serena stopped the two Moroi from doing any more face punching, but simple dodges often meant brushing against each other, fingers sliding against skin in the heat of the action. Every once in a while, the guardians would have someone play Strigoi–putting Lissa or Christian on the offensive. The two Moroi welcomed this to a certain extent; after all, direct attacks were what they wanted to learn. But, when Christian (playing Strigoi) lunged at Lissa and pushed her into a wall, learning offense suddenly didn't seem like such a good idea to her. The maneuver pressed them right up to each other, his arms holding hers. She could smell him and feel him and was overwhelmed by the fantasy of him just holding her there and kissing her. â€Å"I think you two should go back to basic defense,† said Grant, interrupting her traitorous feelings. He sounded like he was more worried about them hurting each other than the possibility that they might start making out. It took Lissa and Christian a moment to even register his words, let alone part from each other. When they did, both avoided eye contact and returned to the couch. The guardians launched into more examples of how to avoid an attacker. Lissa and Christian had seen this so many times that they knew the lesson by heart, and their earlier attraction gave way to frustration. Lissa was too polite to say anything, but after fifteen minutes of Serena and Grant showing how to block with your arms and dodge someone reaching for you, Christian finally spoke. â€Å"How do you stake a Strigoi?† Serena froze at Christian's words. â€Å"Did you say stake?† Rather than being shocked, Grant chuckled. â€Å"I don't think that's anything you need to worry about. You want to focus on getting away from a Strigoi, not getting closer.† Lissa and Christian exchanged an uneasy look. â€Å"I helped kill Strigoi before,† Christian pointed out. â€Å"I used fire at the school's attack. Are you saying that's not okay? That I shouldn't have done it?† Now Serena and Grant traded glances. Ha, I thought. Those two weren't as progressive as I thought. They were coming from a defense point of view, not offense. â€Å"Of course you should have,† said Grant at last. â€Å"What you did was amazing. And in a similar situation? Sure. You wouldn't want to be helpless. But that's the point–you have your fire. If it came down to you fighting a Strigoi, your magic's going to be the way to go. You already know how to use it–and it'll keep you safely out of their range.† â€Å"What about me?† asked Lissa. â€Å"I don't have any kind of magic like that.† â€Å"You'll never get close enough to a Strigoi for it to be a problem,† said Serena fiercely. â€Å"We won't let you.† â€Å"Besides,† added Grant with amusement, â€Å"it's not like we just go around handing out stakes.† I would have given anything for them to go take a look in her suitcase right then. Lissa bit her lip and refused to make eye contact with Christian again, for fear of giving away their intentions. This was not going according to their crazy plan. Christian again took the lead. â€Å"Can you at least demo it?† he asked, trying–and succeeding–to look like someone just seeking the sensational and exciting. â€Å"Is it hard to do? It seems like all you have to do is aim and hit.† Grant snorted. â€Å"Hardly. There's a bit more to it than that.† Lissa leaned forward, clasping her hands together as she followed Christian's lead. â€Å"Well, then don't worry about teaching us. Just show us.† â€Å"Yeah. Let's see.† Christian shifted restlessly beside her. As he did, their arms brushed, and instantly they moved apart. â€Å"It's not a game,† Grant said. Nonetheless, he walked over to his coat and produced his stake. Serena stared incredulously. â€Å"What are you going to do?† she asked. â€Å"Stake me?† He gave that small chuckle of his and searched the room with his sharp eyes. â€Å"Of course not. Ah. There we are.† He walked over to a small armchair that had a decorative pillow. He lifted it up and tested its width. It was fat and thickly filled with some sort of dense stuffing. He returned to Lissa and gestured for her to stand. To everyone's astonishment, he handed her his stake. Locking his body into a rigid position, he gripped the pillow hard between his hands and extended it out a couple feet in front of him. â€Å"Go ahead,† he said. â€Å"Aim and hit it.† â€Å"Are you crazy?† asked Serena. â€Å"Don't worry,† he said. â€Å"Princess Voda can afford the incidentals. I'm proving a point. Strike the pillow.† Lissa hesitated only a few more moments. An excitement that seemed unusually intense filled her. I knew she'd been anxious to learn this, but her desire for it seemed higher than before. Gritting her teeth, she stepped forward and awkwardly tried to impale the pillow with her stake. She was cautious–fearing she'd hurt Grant–but there was no need for her to worry. She didn't even budge him, and all she managed with the stake was a slight snagging of the fabric on the surface. She tried a few more times but achieved little more. Christian, being who he was, said, â€Å"That's all you can do?† Glaring, she handed him the stake. â€Å"You do better.† Christian stood, snarky smile disappearing as he studied the pillow critically and sized up his blow. As he did, Lissa glanced around and saw the humor in the guardians' eyes. Even Serena had relaxed. They were making their point, proving staking wasn't an easy thing to learn. I was glad, and my opinion of them rose. Christian finally made his move. He did actually pierce the fabric, but the pillow and its stuffing proved too much to break through. And again, Grant wasn't shaken at all. After more failed attempts, Christian sat down again and handed the stake back. It was kind of fun to see Christian's cocky attitude shot down a little. Even Lissa enjoyed it, despite her own frustration over how difficult this was becoming. â€Å"The stuffing's got too much resistance,† Christian complained. Grant handed his stake to Serena. â€Å"What, and you think a Strigoi's body is going to be easier to get through? With muscles and ribs in the way?† Grant got back into his position, and without hesitation, Serena struck with the stake. Its point burst through the other side of the pillow, coming to a halt just in front of Grant's chest as tiny fluffy pieces of stuffing drifted to the ground. She jerked it out and handed it to him like it had been the simplest thing in the world. Both Christian and Lissa stared in amazement. â€Å"Let me try again,† he said. By the time Priscilla called them to dinner, there wasn't a pillow in that hotel room left untouched. Boy, she was going to be surprised when she got the bill. Lissa and Christian hacked away with the stake while the guardians looked on with a superior air, confident their message was being delivered. Staking Strigoi was not easy. Lissa was finally getting it. She realized that in some ways, piercing a pillow–or a Strigoi–wasn't even about understanding the principle. Sure, she'd heard me talk about lining your shot up to get to the heart and miss the ribs, but this was more than knowledge. A lot of it was strength–strength she physically didn't have yet. Serena, though seemingly petite, had spent years building up her muscle and could get that stake through practically anything. One hour-long lesson wouldn't give Lissa that kind of strength, and she whispered as much to Christian when the group went out to dinner. â€Å"You're quitting already?† he asked, voice equally low as they rode in the backseat of an SUV. Grant, Serena, and a third guardian were there too, but they were deep in discussion. â€Å"No!† Lissa hissed back. â€Å"But I've got to, like, train before I can do it.† â€Å"Like lift weights?† â€Å"I†¦ I don't know.† The others were still talking to each other, but Lissa's topic was too dangerous for her to risk them hearing. She leaned close to Christian, unnerved yet again at how his closeness and familiarity affected her. Swallowing, she tried to keep her face impassive and stick to the topic. â€Å"But I'm just not strong enough. It's physically impossible.† â€Å"Sounds like you're giving up.† â€Å"Hey! You didn't make it through any of the pillows either.† He flushed slightly. â€Å"I almost got through that green one.† â€Å"There was hardly anything in it!† â€Å"I just need more practice.† â€Å"You don't need to do anything,† she shot back, fighting to keep her voice quiet through her anger. â€Å"This isn't your fight. It's mine.† â€Å"Hey,† he snapped, eyes glittering like pale blue diamonds, â€Å"you're crazy if you think I'm going to just let you go and risk–â€Å" He cut himself off and actually bit his lip, as though will alone wasn't enough to stop him from talking. Lissa stared at him, and both of us began wondering how he would have finished. What wouldn't he risk? Her putting herself in danger? That was my guess. Even without talk, he spoke volumes with his expression. Through Lissa's eyes, I saw him drinking in her features and trying to hide his emotions. At last, he jerked away and broke that intimate space between them, getting as far from her as he could. â€Å"Fine. Do whatever you want. I don't care.† Neither of them spoke after that, and since it was lunchtime for me, I returned to my own reality and welcomed a filing break–only to be informed by Hans that I had to keep working. â€Å"Come on! Isn't it lunchtime? You have to feed me,† I exclaimed. â€Å"That's just beyond cruel. At least throw me some crumbs.† â€Å"I did feed you. Or, well, you fed yourself when you inhaled that sandwich. You wanted your lunch break then. You got it. Now you keep working.† I slammed my fists against the endless piles of paper before me. â€Å"Can't I at least do something else? Paint buildings? Haul rocks?† â€Å"I'm afraid not.† A smile twisted the corners of his lips. â€Å"There's a lot of filing we need done.† â€Å"How long? How long are you going to punish me?† Hans shrugged. â€Å"Until someone tells me to stop.† He left me alone again, and I leaned back in my chair, forcibly trying not to flip the table in front of me over. I thought it would make me feel momentarily better, but it also meant I'd have to redo the work I'd done. With a sigh, I returned to my task. Lissa was at dinner when I tuned back into her later. It might have technically been in honor of her birthday, but really, it was all royal conversation with Priscilla. That was no way to spend a birthday, I decided. I'd have to make this up to her whenever I earned freedom. We'd have a real party, and I'd be able to give her my birthday present: gorgeous leather boots that Adrian had helped me acquire back at school. Being in Christian's head might have been more interesting, but since that wasn't an option, I returned to my own and mulled over my earlier talk with Adrian. Was this punishment finally going to end? Was an official royal decree going to put me and Lissa together at last, despite the guardians' normal policy? Trying to figure it out was like being on a hamster wheel. A lot of work. No progress. But it got me through the dinner conversation, and before I knew it, Lissa's group was getting up and heading for the restaurant's door. It was dark out now, and Lissa couldn't help but feel the weirdness of being on a human schedule. Back at school or the Court, this would be the middle of the day. Instead, they were now heading back to their hotel and would be going to bed. Well, probably not right away. I had no doubt that if Lissa and Christian could get over their current huff, they'd be back to stabbing more pillows. As much as I wanted those two dating again, I couldn't help but think they were a lot safer apart. Or maybe not. The group had hung out at the restaurant far past the normal dinner hour, so the lot was mostly empty as they walked across it. The guardians hadn't exactly parked in the back, but they weren't near the main entrance either. They had, however, made a point of parking next to one of the street lamps illuminating the lot. Except it wasn't lit now. The light had been broken. Grant and Priscilla's guardian noticed it right away. It was the kind of little detail we were trained to notice: anything unusual, anything that might have changed. In a flash, the two of them had stakes out and were flanking the Moroi. It only took seconds for Serena and the guardian assigned to Christian to follow suit. That was something else we were trained to do. Be on guard. React. Follow your colleagues. They were fast. All of them were fast. But it didn't matter. Because suddenly, there were Strigoi everywhere. I'm not entirely sure where they came from. Maybe they'd been behind the cars or on the parking lot's edges. If I'd had a bird-eye's view of the situation or been there myself with my â€Å"nausea alarm,† I might have had a better sense of it all. But I was watching the scene through Lissa's eyes, and the guardians were going out of their way to block her from the Strigoi who seemed to have appeared out of thin air as far as she was concerned. Most of the actions were a blur to her. Her bodyguards were shoving her around, trying to keep her safe as white, red-eyed faces popped up everywhere. She saw it all through a fear-filled haze. But before long, both of us could see people dying. Serena, just as fast and strong as she'd been in the hotel room, staked a male Strigoi cleanly through the heart. Then, in return, a female Strigoi leapt at Priscilla's guardian and broke his neck. Lissa was distantly aware of Christian's arm around her, pressing her against the SUV and shielding her with his own body. The remaining guardians were also still forming a protective ring as best they could, but they were distracted. Their circle was faltering–and they were dropping. One by one, the Strigoi killed the guardians. It wasn't for lack of skill on the guardians' part. They were simply outnumbered. One Strigoi tore out Grant's throat with her teeth. Serena was backhanded hard against the asphalt, landing facedown and not moving. And, horror of horrors, the Strigoi didn't seem to be sparing Moroi either. Lissa–pushing so hard against the SUV that it seemed as though she might become one with it–stared wide-eyed as one Strigoi swiftly and efficiently ripped into Priscilla's neck, pausing to drink her blood. The Moroi woman didn't even have time to register surprise, but at least there had been no real suffering. The endorphins dimmed the pain as the blood and life were drained from her body. Lissa's emotions shifted into something beyond fear, something that hardly felt like anything at all. She was in shock. Numbed. And with a cold, hard certainty, she knew that her death was coming and accepted it. Her hand found Christian's, squeezing it tightly, and turning toward him, she took small comfort in knowing the last sight she would see in life was the beautiful, crystalline blue of his eyes. From the look on his face, his thoughts were along similar themes. There was warmth in his eyes, warmth and love and– Total and complete astonishment. His eyes widened, focusing on something just behind Lissa. At that same moment, a hand grabbed Lissa's shoulder and whipped her around. This is it, a small voice inside her whispered. This is where I die. Then, she understood Christian's astonishment. She was facing Dimitri. Like me, she had that surreal sense of it being Dimitri yet not being Dimitri. So many of his features were the same†¦ and yet so many were different. She tried to say something, anything, but while the words formed on her lips, she just couldn't manage to get them out. Intense heat suddenly flared behind her, and a brilliant light lit Dimitri's pale features. Neither Lissa nor I needed to see Christian to know he had produced a ball of fire with his magic. Either the shock of seeing Dimitri or fear for Lissa had spurred Christian into action. Dimitri squinted slightly at the light, but then a cruel smile twisted his lips, and the hand resting on her shoulder slid up to her neck. â€Å"Put it out,† said Dimitri. â€Å"Put it out or she dies.† Lissa finally found her voice, even with her air cut off. â€Å"Don't listen to him,† she gasped out. â€Å"He's going to kill us anyway.† But behind her, the heat died. Shadows fell across Dimitri's face once again. Christian wouldn't risk her, even though she was right. It hardly seemed to matter. â€Å"Actually,† said Dimitri, voice pleasant amid the grim scene, â€Å"I'd rather you two stay alive. At least for a little while longer.† I felt Lissa's face move to a frown. I wouldn't have been surprised if Christian's did too, judging from the confusion in his voice. He couldn't even manage a snarky comment. He could only ask the obvious: â€Å"Why?† Dimitri's eyes gleamed. â€Å"Because I need you to be bait for Rose.†