Summary: After being wrongly accused of treason, Rose finds herself in jail. She locks herself away from her friends and refuses to talk. But with the countdown to her hearing ticking down rapidly, Rose is forced to ask for help from someone who made it clear that they want nothing to do with her…

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VAMPIRE ACADEMY. ALL CREDIT GOES TO REICHELLE MEAD.

They execute traitors…

As if my bleak cell needed more encouragement from the words that were refusing to leave my head. The grey walls were just like I remembered. Except the last time I was here, I was on the other side of the bars, standing with the gaurdians- not having them stare at me with their stupid guardian masks.

I was sitting on the floor in the furthest corner of my cell with my head leaning against the wall. I closed my eyes, thinking about the mess I was in. Accused of murder and being me, it couldn't have been just any murder- it had to be the Queen's. The bitch had to go and let herself be killed even though she knew someone was after her. I thought about the letter she had left me and swore.

A guardian tilted his head towards me, obviously startled at my first speech in hours. I fixed him with a ferocious glare, feeling slightly bad because I couldn't blame him for being curious but I convinced myself that he was one of the things that was stopping me from getting out of this Hell-hole. As soon as he turned away, I leant my head against the wall again and closed my eyes, replaying Abe's words in my head.

He was sitting next to me, trying to ignore me to listen to what the priest was saying.

I was almost shouting at him to look at me. I was screaming that I loved him but he remained silent. The rest of the church continued as though I wasn't there, screaming my lungs out.

I tugged at the sleeve of his duster.

"I love you," I whispered hoarsely.

He turned and fixed me with a cold yet impassive look.

"Love fades," he said simply. "Mine Has."

That was all it took to get me to run out of the church, tears threatening to spill at any moment.

"Rose," a voice called as I ran. "Rose! Guardian Hathaway!"

I groaned as I opened my eyes.

"She no longer has a right on the title of guardian," an emotionless voice pointed out.

"Guardian Hathaway!" the voice called again, clearly ignoring the other guy.

I turned my head towards the bars and groaned again, realizing how stiff my neck was. As I looked at my visitor, my eyes widened, short of rolling out of there sockets.

"Stan?" I asked before immediately correcting myself and giving him the respect he had given me. "Guardian Alto?"

He nodded and gave me a small smile. I stood up and ran to the bars, ecstatic that anyone had come to see me and immediately, my good mood dropped, along with my hands that had just been clutching the bars. Stan had come to see me. Stan of all people. The guy I had been arguing with for as long as I could remember, and yet, my best friend hadn't even bothered to come. It had been well over a day since I had last spoken to Lissa and I just realized how she hadn't come to see me. I'd been to consumed in my own thoughts to think about visiting her but it wasn't like she was the one accused of murder.

"How come you're here?" I asked, frowning.

A wrinkle appeared in the middle of Stan's forhead as he pondered over my sudden change in mood. "I came to see you. I thought that you could use some support aside from Princess Vasilissa's. Alberta was going to come too but she had to attend a council meeting. They're wanting to increase the security on your cell."

"What?" I exclaimed. "You've got to be kidding me! I've already got about half the guardians down here!" Ok, do that was a slight exaggeration but still, there were seven guards down here and three guarding the door upstairs.

Stan smiled at me apologetically. "I'm sorry but if it makes you feel better, Alberta's fighting against the idea."

I sighed and sat down, leaning back against the wall. It didn't make me feel better. One guardian's point of view was hardly going to influence the entire council but I didn't tell Stan that. "Thank you. My past record of breaking out of places isn't exactly helping, is it?"

He looked down at me, slightly amused. "Not really."

I looked for somewhere for him to sit and was once again forced to notice how bare the place was. There was only a wooden bed in my cell and nowhere for visitors to sit.

"I'm so sorry. Where are my manners? Take a seat," I offered dryly, gesturing at the ground.

His expression was torn between curtsey and the urge to laugh, clearly unable to decide whether I was serious or not. After a few seconds, he joined me on the ground.

Silence hung around us for a while and I started to fidget.

"Do you think I did it?" I blurted suddenly. He turned to look at me and smiled.

"Do you think I would be here if I thought you were guilty?" he asked.

I looked down at my hands and played with my fingers. "I know but... It kinda helps to hear it."

Stan nodded and looked at his watch. He stood up suddenly and looked at me as I too scrambled to my feet.

"I'm sorry but I'm late to meet Alberta," he said.

"It's okay. And thanks for coming. It was nice to have yours and Alberta's support." I made sure to include her name as I thought about his earlier words. "Princess Vasilissa has been slightly too busy to pay a visit yet."

I tried to pull the sentence off with a light tone and a shrug but it was obvious, to even me, that my attempt was unsuccessful.

"Do you want me to take a message?" he asked.

I thought quickly and nodded. "Can you tell Adrian Ivashkov that he will always be in my dreams and that I'm sure that next time I go to sleep he will be there?"

He frowned. "I meant more important ones. Not love notes."

"Please," I begged. "It is important. Tell him and he'll understand. It'll mean a lot to him."

Stan opened his mouth to argue further but his watch caught his eye and he nodded curtly. "Alright. I will be back with Alberta as soon as possible, Guardian Hathaway. Until then."

"Until then."