Here is the second chapter. I wasn't going to post it until tomorrow, but I figured I wouldn't get any more reviews. I know you guys are reading it and adding it to alerts and stuff, so could you please review as well? Thankyou to those of you who did :) lol oops! I was so excited about starting this yesterday I forgot disclaimers.

And glad you like it. Enjoy!

-Rachel :)

DISCLAIMER: Richelle Mead owns Vampire Academy and everything else here except the plot. Yeah, I don't own Dimitri. *sobs*

CHAPTER 2

I sat up from the bed – if that's what you could even call it, what with it being made of wood and had just one blanket thrown over it – and stifled a scream. I jumped up, fear running through me. Fear and confusion.

How had he seen me? How was that even possible? Lissa didn't even know when I was in her head, so how could he? Did he really know me that well, he could… sense when I was around?

That thought scared me – that someone knew me that well. Forget it, Rose. He left you. He didn't want you anymore. His loved faded.

Shaking my head, I slumped down against the wall, still breathing hard. Lissa and the others were trying to see me. But what if I didn't want to see them? I would see them at the trial, anyway. I didn't want to hurt Lissa anymore than I had to. A clean break, I thought.

"Rose?" a voice said. I jumped, my head snapping up.

It was Guardian Tomas. I jumped up and walked over to the bars. I was actually genuinely happy to see him. "Tomas," I greeted him.

He leaned in through the bars. "How are you doing?" he asked. I smiled sadly. What a stupid question. But I gave him an honest answer.

"Lissa and the others are hatching a plan to come and see me – and probably get me out. And to be honest, I'm surprised. I didn't expect to ever see you again." He nodded seriously, but he didn't have his Guardian mask on.

"Me either." He glanced at the Guardian standing in the doorway and lowered his voice. "I had to pull huge strings to get down here. I'll be a permanent guard for this cell now."

I frowned, looking up into his worried face. "You won't tell anyone about whatever Lissa and the others or Abe is doing, will you?"

I bit my lip. Shit. He was a friend, but he was still a Guardian. And his allegiance lies with the Court.

He shook his head. "No. I'm here to help you."

Well, there goes his allegiance.

"What?" I asked, shocked. I heard him perfectly, of course. But why would he help me?

"What you did… what you did before," he said quietly – I knew what he was talking about, when I had set off to save him – "I thought that was amazing. And I realised how much you care about your friends and you family, and the people you love."

I laugh humourlessly. "Yeah, well, that kind of backfired on me."

He went on, not acknowledging my comment, "And I know you did everything you could to help me, too."

I remembered. It seemed like years ago, but it had only been a couple of months. We both knew what each other were going through. He had helped me, and I had done everything I could to help him too. "And I owe you, Rose. What the Court is doing is wrong. Of course I think you're innocent, and you'd be surprised to know that most of the Guardians around here believe in you too."

Yeah, so why were they keeping me locked up here? I just nodded, staying silent for his sake.

"Abe wants to see you. He and Adrian want to talk to you about the trial."

I frowned. I didn't want anyone down here unless they had to be – but if it was Abe, then I guess that was okay. But Adrian? I didn't want to see him right now. He really cared about me – loved me – and it killed me that I couldn't return that.

Not even when the man that I did love didn't want anything to do with my anymore.

"Okay," I said slowly. "Is Abe here now?"

He nodded. "He's upstairs, waiting for my signal to come down here."

I grimaced. "Okay, I'll see him now."

As soon as I said that, Abe came down the stairs, looking as badass and business-like as ever. Eavesdropper.

Tomas unlocked my cell door and sat down near the stairs, trying to give us some privacy.

"Hey old man," I greeted him.

"Rose." Abe put his hands on my shoulders, looking into my eyes. His face was serious.

"How are you?" he asked me. Another stupid question. What was it with everyone today?

"Great," I said, sarcasm dripping from my words. "Fantastic, actually. I'm locked in here, they hardly ever feed me, Lissa is trying to break in and get me out, I'm going to trial, and I'm going to be executed. Never been better."

He didn't laugh. His voice was hard.

"No. Stop it, Rose. I told you before, and I'll say it again. That is never going to happen. I won't allow it. Do you understand?"

He shook my shoulders, as if he was trying to shake some sense into me. Bit late for that.

"Do you understand?" he repeated, his eyes boring into mine.

I sighed. "Yes. Yes, I understand. And I already know about your crazy scheme." He looked a bit hurt at this. He'd get over it. "So what are you planning on doing?"

He sat me down and he explained it. "We're going to get you out of here. We're going to be on the run for a while, until we find the murderer. Then we'll prove it to the Court, and your case will be cleared. But you still have to go to the trial. If they decide you're guilty…well, we'll have to figure that out. But if we hold the case out longer, we may have a chance to break you out of here. We still have to plan everything. Some other Guardians are going to help."

It sounded so simple. But I knew it wasn't going to be. What if the trial didn't go to plan? The consequences were much higher than back at the Academy. I wouldn't get a detention – I would die. And what if we never found who did it? Would we be fugitives forever?

I couldn't do that to everyone. I couldn't do it to my father. I couldn't stop Eddie from being what he's always wanted to be. I couldn't get Adrian or Christian involved in this, and I could never ruin Lissa's chances to become Queen. I wasn't that selfish.

Which reminded me of something. I pulled the crumpled note from my pocket – the one that I had opened and reopened again and again, reading Tatiana's words until they were etched into my mind.

I handed it to Abe. He frowned, taking it from me.

"I was going to tell you about it sooner, but I didn't have a chance. It's from the Queen. And it helps – we need to find Lissa's sibling."

"Rose!" he gasped. "This…this can help clear your name. This is what we need."

I shook my head. "You can't show this at Court. If you do, it will ruin any slim chances Lissa may have becoming Queen."

I was right, and he knew it. If they knew – if they even had the slightest idea – the people against Lissa would surely try and stop the sibling being found. At all costs.

He sighed, handing the paper back to me. "Lissa wants to come and see you as soon as possible," he said, changing the subject.

"Just Lissa?" I raised my eyebrow.

He bit his lip. "No…" he finally said. "Adrian, Eddie and Christian as well. And… Dimitri."

My breath hitched. Dimitri…

"I can't…" I said, looking down. How could I face them? How could I face him? And there was no was in hell that they were going to come with me as fugitives.

"Rose," Abe warned. "If you won't see anyone else, at least see Lissa. She misses you, and she loves you. She just wants to see her best friend."

I missed her, too. "Okay," I gave in. "But just Lissa. No one else," I warned. He looked like he was about to argue, but I shot him a death glare, which effectively shut him up. I smiled to myself. I could make the Abe Mazur – Zmey – somewhat sacred. Oh, yes. I was amazing.

"Okay," he said finally, getting up to leave. "She'll come tomorrow. Don't worry Rose. You'll get out. I'll make sure of it. I'll fix this." And just like that, he turned and disappeared up the stairs, leaving me alone again, with just the almost non-existent company of the guardians.

"No," I whispered. "Some things you can't even fix."

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