Chapter One- Jailbait

Guilty of murder. I've been accused for a lot of things in the past but not this, not murder. If someone told me I was guilty of harassing a royal moroi, it was probably true. If I was found guilty of breaking Victor Dashkov out of prison, well, that was definitely true. But to be labelled guilty of murder that was ridiculous, even for me, Rosemarie Hathaway. The worst part is, they think I killed the queen! I've heard a lot of crazy rumours about me circulating around court by gossip hungry moroi but this rumour, I knew, was 100% false. I'll admit- I'm capable of quite a lot, probably even murder, but not the queen's murder. That would have been almost impossible, although I kind of had achieved the impossible when breaking Victor out of jail. I mean, sure, I'd hated the queen but I hadn't hated her enough to kill her or even want her death. However, snide comments I'd made to the queen in the past had come back to haunt me. Now the moroi council and probably nearly everyone at court thought I was her killer. Good one Rose I thought angrily. If I was a moroi on the council, I probably would have thought I'd killed the queen to. My track record wasn't that great and my past showed how badass I really was, not to mention how much trouble I'd gotten into back at St. Vladimir's Academy.

So here I was, helplessly arguing with the guardians, who had been ordered to take me away, to the courts jail facility. "I didn't do it!" I yelled loudly, fighting against the guardian's tight grip on my forearm. How dare they drag me away, like I'm some filthy rotten criminal! A few passers-by looked at me weirdly. The hell with them! I thought.

"Just walk. Don't talk" the guardian holding my arm whispered harshly, yanking me forward. I kept tripping over my own two feet, as I stumbled along the footpath. A totally of six guardians surrounded me, forming a tight circle; with me in the middle.

I was led into the guardians building, walking past the front desk where the secretary looked up in surprise; I sneered at her. She saw the look on my face and quickly averted her eyes back to the computer screen.

It seemed like everywhere I went people would stare, whispering, mumbling or arguing about me in hushed voices, that I could still here. Gossip hungry moroi I scowled. We walked down the stairs, leading down to where they kept the criminals locked up in a cell until their trial came around; which could be months. I never would have thought I'd end up in a cell where 'Criminals' would be, locked up. I had been in a cell when I broke Victor out of jail but that had been different. I wasn't a criminal then, I was free to make my own choices and go out in the real world. How ironic, now I had ended up in a cell just like him. But Victor had committed a crime, I hadn't, and soon everyone would know that as well. I was innocent.

God, I felt so sick. This was a big mistake, they had gotten the wrong person, I wasn't the killer! No one would believe me though. Damn it Rose! I groaned. Why did I have to open my big mouth the other day and shout abuse at the Queen? If I hadn't, then I wouldn't be here, I would be with Lissa right now talking about what we were going to do about getting her on the council. I didn't have time to chastise myself any longer because we went through another door, leading down deeper and deeper into the heart of the building. A guardian stood at one of the cells, waiting for me to reach him. When I did he unlocked the cell door, with a tiny gold key and swung the door open widely so I could go in.

I thought about refusing but didn't get a chance to because the guardian still holding my arm pushed me into the cell, closing the door behind me. It banged shut with a loud Clang! I flinched and turned around to look at the inside of my cell. There was a small cot in the corner and well… that was it. It wasn't very big; the cell was about three metres wide and three metres long.

I sighed, walking over to the cot and lowering myself down onto its rough surface. It was quite hard; no doubt it would be uncomfortable to sleep on. The six guardians that had taken me here walked over to the other side of the room and spoke in quiet voices, just out of hearing range. I put my head in my hands and groaned. I'd been in here all of twenty seconds and already I hated it. Is this what Dimitri had felt like, when he was put into a cell and locked up, to ponder on all the horrible things he had done as a strigoi? He would have gone mad thinking about it all. No wonder he told Lissa not to let me come down and see him. He didn't want to be reminded of all the awful things he had done to me. And all I had done was make it harder for him, storming down here and demanding his attention because I had wanted to see him so badly. But really all I had done was torture him. He wanted to forget the past and move on to be a dhampir again, Lissa was the only one who comforted him and didn't remind him of all the things he'd done. I had and I wish I had of waited a bit longer to see him, maybe then he would choose to still love me. Things could have been different, I should have given him time to grieve and then when he'd asked for me I would have come. I felt like an idiot, one who had screwed up badly. A tear slid down my cheek and my body vibrated, sending short spasms up and down my spine.

Someone cleared there throat and I looked up, startled. Tomas Sanders. The guardian who had aided Lissa, Eddie and I in our crazy mission to restore Dimitri's soul, was standing at the front of my cell, with an uneasy look on his face. I gave him a small smile and hastily wiped the tears from my face.

"Hey" I said gruffly.

"Hey" he replied, letting out a heavy breath.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I heard what happened, it'll be okay, I promise." I grimaced.

"I'm not so sure this time." I replied sadly.

I stayed in the cell for how many days, I wasn't so sure. No one came to visit me except for the guardians on patrol- who were either checking I hadn't escaped or wanting to know if I needed the bathroom. I was a little angry Lissa hadn't checked to see how I was or Adrian or even Dimitri at the very least. None of my friends seemed to care I was locked away, down here in this awful cell. With nothing to do except ponder on all my thoughts. Did they really think I was the killer? Surely Lissa and Dimitri new I would never even think of doing something as horrible as this. Would they? Is their faith in me loosening? Unravelling little by little? It seemed unlikely but… then again, it was also unlikely to restore a Strigoi's earlier form but we proved that to be wrong.

The queen's death was a mystery, who was her real killer? I didn't know but I sure as hell intended to find out, well, as soon as I got out of here anyway. Maybe Lissa and Adrian could find out something while I was imprisoned down here. Dimitri could even help them out. Whoever did it must want me out of the way; obviously they were trying to get to Lissa that was the most likely reason. With me out of the way there was nothing stopping them from getting to her. I didn't have that many enemies among the dhampir's or moroi. Okay, that was a lie. For example, Victor Dashkov and the Strigoi were my enemies. (I'm pretty sure I had been labelled Dangerous in Strigoi society. I would be a bigger target then Lissa, which definitely wasn't good. Especially as I wanted to be her guardian, the two of us together was like looking directly into the face of the grand prize; an easy target)

For some reason my mind drifted towards Adrian, my on-again, off-again boyfriend. Our current status was on, since I had given up on Dimitri, although my feelings and desire for Dimitri still hadn't dimmed or faded like his love for me claimed to. After my last encounter with Dimitri, my thoughts were filled with hope, the way he had protected me from the queens army of guardians was breathtaking and surely that meant he still loved me no matter what he claimed. I knew it wasn't just because I was in trouble; he had given me a look when I was in the court room, and it was a look full of determination, love and sympathy. One that made him look like the god I loved and remembered. Although he had said some pretty cruel things (Somewhere along the lines of "Love fades. Mine has") I still couldn't get over him and move on.

I hated to admit it but whenever I think about the possible suspect for the queens murder, my thoughts always swirled back to Adrian. He had left me early in the morning; he could have taken my stake and hid it in his jacket pocket, then gone over to see the queen, then BAM! Staked her in the heart and taken her by surprise. That's crazy, the sane part of my brain scolded. Adrian wouldn't do that. He loved his aunt. No way would he do that. But, again, I just proved that the impossible can be possible. Victor, without a doubt, is a suspect. He's loose. And he would want to get revenge on Tatiana for sending him to jail and not letting Lissa take a spot on the council. But how could he have gotten into the court in the first place without someone noticing? He had a lot of spy's and I didn't doubt at least one of them wouldn't mind helping him kill the queen, especially as she's upset a lot of dhampir's with the age law. Either way, he's still number one on my list of possible suspects. I mentally crossed out Adrian. My boyfriend wouldn't do this, even if he was sometimes insane with the effects of Spirit. Something deep within me told me to trust my instincts and this is what my instincts screamed at me. Adrian. Is. Not. The. Killer.

And then…

Dimitri.

Does he still love me? I know I said Adrian was my boyfriend and Dimitri said he no longer has feeling for me but…Sometimes I wonder. He defended me against the queen's guardians in the café but that doesn't exactly prove his undying love for me. Nevertheless, I won't forget the fierce, protective and… dangerous stance he had taken when he realized they were coming for me not him. I shuddered lightly and it had nothing to do with the cool breeze coming from the vent on the ceiling. My thoughts drifted from thought to thought, person to person until I focused on one person in particular.

Eddie Castile. My best friend- Besides Lissa of course. He was extremely loyal, even when he had discovered my intentions for setting Victor free: To gain information on how to restore a Strigoi's sole. Eddie had stayed and fought with me until the end. How was I ever going to repay him? A few moroi families had withdrawn their application for him to be their guardian, which had made me feel a whole ton of regret and sadness. What best friend put their other friend's reputation on the line? Had I even thought about the consequences my actions would have on others? No. I seethed. I wondered what he thought of me now. Did he still think that I needed help? Since being imprisoned wasn't exactly part of the plane in getting Dimitri back. Yes, of course, I thought. Eddie would always look out for his friends even if they had treated him badly because that was the kind of person Eddie was. Ever since his best friend and my brief boyfriend, Mason, had died from taking a blow from a strigoi in Spokane, it had changed Eddie's view on things. He had been vulnerable and helpless back then, when the strigoi had kidnapped us. Eddie, like me, blamed Mason's death on himself for not being able to help his best friend and never again would he be in a position like that.

The memory of our adventure in Vegas sparked up another memory-this one unwanted. Of Victor. He was free. He would always be after Lissa and her Spirit abilities; otherwise he would die from the horrible disease he beheld. He wouldn't come after Adrian, even though he knew Adrian was a spirit user, it was because Adrian wasn't nearly as powerful as Lissa was. He couldn't heal as well as her and it would take forever for him to heal victor bit by bit. He couldn't even manage to heal a dead plant for Christ sake! The hard thing was knowing I had let him escape. He had slipped away after the fight with Dimitri when he was a strigoi. He could be anywhere around the world by now and I had no clue where he might be. How was I supposed to find him? I had no clue. Well, there was another option. I could tell the guardians and they'd sort it out. But that would get me, Eddie, Lissa and Adrian into a lot more trouble, me especially. Not forgetting Tomas of course, he would surely be punished worse than the rest of us. And besides, I was in enough trouble as it is. If they found out I had broken out the most wanted moroi criminal in the vampiric world then there was no chance of getting out of this death trap.

Suddenly, a thought jostled me. How could I have not thought of it? I slipped into Lissa's mind almost instantly. It was becoming easier the more and more I tried it. She was in her room, laying down, staring up at the ceiling sullenly. She remained that way for quite a while, thinking about my situation and her ex-boyfriend, Christian who was ignoring her. Lissa and Christian. God. Here was two people that were absolutely perfect for each other, the perfect match yet past experiences kept them apart. Drunken kisses and supposed cheating had made them stubborn as hell! Both of them were to ignorant to apologize to each other and make up. When-if I get out of here, I need to have a serious talk with them- both of them.

"Rose?" A soft whisper jarred me out of my internal blabbing. I looked over to see Tomas leaning against the door to my cell, his hands tightly wrapped around the bars. He nodded at the two guardians standing watch a couple of metres away and spoke briskly, "I can take it from here."

One of them raised his eyebrow as if to say, "You sure?"

Tomas waved them away and they shuffled off, leaving us alone except for the guardians posted down the other end of the room, leaving no escape.

I stood up and walked over, to stand in front of him. "What is it, Tomas?"

"I have your trial results." He told me.

I leaned in eagerly.

"They vote undecided. You'll have another trial in a month." He informed me.

"Damn it!" I shouted, kicking the bars. One of the guardians moved forward, reaching for his stake, but Tomas reassured him that there was no threat. "A month?" I exclaimed.

"Yes, apparently your father bought some time." He looked troubled so I asked, "Tomas, how is Lissa and why hasn't she come to see me?"

He looked away uneasily and fidgeted, my eyes narrowed. "Lissa's fine."

"But?" I prompted.

"She isn't allowed to see you. Strict orders from the Ivashkov family. They say you're too dangerous."

My mouthed dropped open and I began sputtering, something I'd never done before, "W-w-what? Dan-ngerous?"

He nodded solemnly and added, "I'm sorry, Rose."

I slid down to the floor and Tomas squatted beside me, so he could look me levelly in the eye. "I've heard some… Rumour's circulating." He said.

"About what?" I asked warily. By then, I was too tired to even care about the rumour's circulating around court, because obviously they were about me.

"Is it true…You have a sister?" He whispered so softly that if I wasn't directly sitting across from him, I wouldn't have heard at all.

My head snapped up, my eyes widened with shock. "What?" I snapped, more sharply than I intended to sound.

"Well," he replied, unfazed. "They say you have a sister- or an illegitimate one." He paused. "Is it true?"

"Of course not!" I exploded, then taking deep breaths I tried to calm myself down. "At least, I don't think so. Where did you hear this?"

"I-" He was cut off by one of the guardians, who appeared at the bottom of the stairs, who was slowly walking over to us.

"Times up." He said, begging to usher Tomas away.

"No! Wait!" I shouted. Tomas looked over his shoulder and the promise in his eyes was so tangible, I could almost feel it. The two guardians resumed their post and Tomas was led up the stairs and back out into freedom. Where I no longer had a place. The room returned to silence once more. But my mind was whirling around with different thoughts, I was so overwhelmed by what I'd heard and tried to decipher; truth from lies. All was quiet except for the one turmoil that was picking up its tempo in my brain.

They say you have a sister-Or an illegitimate one.