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Chapter Three: The Trial, and a Dark Beauty
Rose
Well, this is it. The trial. The house had a tense atmosphere in it as we all got dressed. I was wearing formal guardian black and white, while Lissa was wearing a light green dress that went perfectly with her eyes. She set the tiara on her head, and slipped on some shoes that looked like glass, only green. They didn't look comfortable, either. We both left the room, meeting Dimitri and Christian downstairs. We had taken the kids to the Court nursery until the trial was over. "Ready?" I asked. They just nodded. Together, we walked the short distance to court. Lissa and Christian took their spot up at the front, and Dimitri and I were up against the wall with the other guardians. A royal, whose name I promptly forgot, announced Lissa and Christian's titles. "The trial of Natasha Ozera, Queen Vasilisa Dragomir, and King Christian Ozera residing," he said. Soon after, the doors swung open, and in walked in Tasha Ozera. She had a devilish smile on her face. She sat down next to her lawyer—I was surprised they found someone to represent her. Our lawyer stood up and announced: "The jury calls Guardian Rosemarie Hathaway to the stand," I got up from my position on the wall and walked over to the guardian who was next to the hand, holding an old scripture in his hand. I put my right hand on it carefully, afraid that it would crumble under the extra weight. "Do you, Guardian Rosemarie Hathaway, swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, to serve faithfully under the rule of Queen Vasilisa Dragomir and King Christian Ozera?" "I do," I said. I then took my place. The lawyer that was representing us was a middle aged Moroi that had light brown hair in a bun on top of her head. "What happened when Natasha Ozera 'disappeared', as it is said in here, throughout the house. Where did you find her?" I took a deep breath before answering. "When she disappeared, Guardian Belikov, the only other guardian in the building, and I split up. I went up the stairs, and he went down. I found her first, in the spare bedroom. At first, I didn't see her. I was turning to the door to leave, when she tackled me and pinned me on the wall. She had had a knife in her hand and told me some threats; then she cut a small line on my neck. I had screamed, and Guardian Belikov broke the door down a couple seconds later. When Natasha glanced away, I had enough time to punch her, making her stumble back and losing the knife. Guardian Belikov had charged to help me, but she used her magic to create a wall of fire between us. It was me and her, when I had felt this burning pain in my chest. It's very hard to explain, but I'm a Dark Beauty, and I have powers. So the window crashed and I used my powers to use a piece of big glass to cut into her leg. Then a black mist generated off of me and consumed her. By this time, the fire had went out, and she was unconscious after a minute of screaming. After that, I had passed out. I haven't seen her since." the lawyer nodded and turned to Christian. "No more questions, Your Highness,"
The rest of the trial was like that. One by one most of my friends went up and gave their account of what happened. My story lined up with theirs. At the very end, Tasha was proclaimed guilty, by a landslide. "Case closed," announced Christian. Christian and Lissa stood up and walked off of their seats, me, Dimitri and some other royal guardians by their side in seconds. We left the room, which was buzzing in excitement. The door we went to led to a maze of hallways. I walked next to Lissa. We weren't supposed to talk in these hallways, but lucky for us, we didn't have to. God, I'm glad that's over. Lissa said relief in her voice. We weren't even looking at each other, but Christian could tell. I could he was peeved that we were talking silently. I could see the expression in his eyes. It said, If you two can't stop for at least three seconds, I'm out of here, and Rose will have to follow. Dang it, he was right. No, he isn't, Dimitri would have to follow him. It's his turn to guard him. Oh, yeah! Hathaway, 1. Ozera, 0. You are so immature, even at this age. You and Christian will never stop, will you? Nope. I answered. We had arrived at the Royal nursery. That's right: They had to add a nursery for all of our kids. Even kid royals needed protection. We entered, and all the guardians gave swift bow. Lissa decided to ignore the bows, and turned to the kids. "Ready to go, guys?" They nodded. Ari was in the back of the room, absorbed in her book. It was so much like Dimitri, it was scary. I walked over to her. "Ari, time to go," I said. She just shushed me. "This is the best part," she mumbled, turning the page. Dimitri came over and chuckled. Dimitri picked her up and set her on his shoulders, so she would be able to read. Once she was settled, and we were positive she wasn't going to fall, she opened up the book and started to read again. We left the room, Melanie walking next to me. "Your aura's weird," was all she said. She glanced up at me. "It shows worry, why?" she asked. "You don't want to know," I told her truthfully. The Strigoi's words, back at the mall: That's what scared me. The last time we had seen Victor was at least three to two years ago. And yet, here was this stupid Strigoi saying, "Victor will not rest until he has the Dark Beauty," Yep, that scared me. Lissa knew, but she didn't want to talk about it, she wasn't ready.
When we walked through the door, we saw Yeva there with a young woman, about a year older than me. Dimitri didn't ask questions, neither did I. Ever since I was in this family, I'd gotten used to seeing Yeva in the house without us allowing it. We sat across from them, Ari on Dimitri's lap. Lissa and Christian dragged in chairs from the kitchen and sat in them. The kids all went upstairs, besides Ari. "This is Holly. She is a Dark Beauty I have known for a long time. I thought she may be able to help." Yeva said. "Roza," I was a bit surprised at that, but she was Russian. "I understand you are a new Dark Beauty," I nodded. "You are bonded, correct?" I nodded again. "Lissa is my bond-mate." I told her, gesturing to Lissa. "Ah, yes. Vasilisa Dragomir. I've heard about you. So, let's get started." was all she said. Do you trust her? asked Lissa in my head. "All conversations can be spoken aloud," Holly said. Holy crap… "How did you…" I couldn't finish. "All will be explained in due time," Dang it, she sounded exactly like Yeva. She gestured outside and we followed. She walked through the woods, and stopped right at the edge of the wards in a meadow, where Dimitri and I spar sometimes. "First, we need to see how good your skills are. Attack me with your powers." She told me. "I don't want to hurt you," I said. "You won't; Trust me." I nodded and brought the burning into a high level. I clenched my fists and held them to my sides. I felt my eyes go black, so did Holly's. I felt the black generate from my fists. I thrust my hands forward, black shooting out of them, towards Holly. She stood still. For a minute, I nearly pulled back. "Don't pull back, Roza. I'll be fine." So I went forward. I heard Ari scream, and saw from the corner of my eye that Dimitri told her to go back to the house. She knew the way. A millisecond before it reached Holly, it dissipated, leaving me drained, and panting hard. "Good, very good. We will work more tomorrow, but I think Yeva wants to go back to her family," I nodded, and stumbled over to Christian, the nearest pair of arms. He caught me, surprised. I hugged him. There was nothing romantic about it, but Dimitri was too far away. Christian walked me over to Dimitri, who gladly took me, supporting my weight the whole walk home…
There you go…Sorry about not UD in a while, school is crazy…First Volleyball game tomorrow! Go Warriors! That's our team name…
All the best,
Guardian2Be