A/N: There's an important note at the end, and I would really appreciate it if you read it. It will explain why I've been MIA and how the story will continue :). Thank you.

Chapter 10-The Trial

I stood before the mirror in Rhys's room, working on the buttons of my coat. When they were fastened, I straightened the black skirt so that it laid flat on my legs. My black high-heeled shoes shone in the light and I sighed.

"Ready to go?" I asked, turning to Rhys who was sitting on the edge of his bed. His hands were braced on either side of him and his head was bowed. He raised his eyes to look at me then nodded silently and stood up.

Rhys walked towards me and wrapped his arms around me, resting his cheek on my head. He mumbled something incoherent and I pulled back a bit to hear what he was saying.

"What's wrong?" I asked, noticing his expression.

"I just want this to go well for you," he sighed, cupping my face with his warm, calloused hands.

"It'll be fine. The lawyer said we had a solid case," I soothed. I was surprised that I was the one comforting him for once.

"Then let's go," he breathed, kissing me on the forehead. He grabbed my hand and we headed out the door.

The ride there was silent. We were too jumbled with nerves and anticipation to even try to talk.

I kept my face neutral, blank as I walked into the courtroom. My steps echoed throughout the expanse of the room, and I focused on the noise only to zone out the sounds of the of whispers that started as I walked past.

There weren't many people in the seats when we arrived. I noticed some elderly couples, probably the parents of the other victims. Victim-that's what I was now, what I had been for a while.

Usually, the victim is seated on one side, while the oppressor is at the opposite end. Since there was more than one victim, a new table had been brought inside, long enough to seat eight. Meaning there were six other women, six other women who were treated the same, if not worse than me. The other chair would be occupied by our lawyer, who was seated and dressed in a sleek suit. Tamlin still hadn't arrived, I didn't know whether to be relieved or worried.

I let my gaze fall over the rows and saw a familiar red head standing near the wall. Lucien had come. He wasn't dressed in uniform, though. His eyes locked into mine and he gave a short nod, something sympathy and regret flashing in his eyes. There was something else in his eyes, however, I almost mistook the expression for panic before it settled into a blank state.

Before I reached the gate, Rhys slipped his arm around my waist and placed a small kiss on my temple, then moved to go to his seat. I watched him go for a moment, contemplating running to him and never letting him go. Anything to keep me from this nightmare. I pushed the gate open, trying to keep my hands from trembling.

That's when I saw the girls-and that's what they were: girls. My heart broke, seeing their faces, knowing that they were real and horrible things had been done to each of them. One of them looked to be younger than me; I could tell she was nervous by the way she kept chewing on her lip and wringing her hands.

I sat and after a few minutes, Tamlin walked through the doors. I made a point not to look at him for the rest of the trial, to keep my gaze in a totally different direction as we were all sworn in and the trial started. It was especially hard when he was oh so desperately trying to catch my eye.

The trial went on for hours. My confidence slowly built up at the compelling evidence the lawyer stacked against Tamlin. The jury, however, did not look impressed.

"The jury has ruled," the judge started after a few hours of sitting and explaining our case, "that Mr. Tamlin will be fined an amount of seven-thousand dollars and will serve three months in the Prythian Correctional Center." The judge banged his gavel, the sound echoing in the room, in my mind.

My mouth fell open and I heard murmurs from the people behind us. I couldn't believe this; they just basically let him off the hook. Only three months and some measly fines. He would be free before I knew it, then he would come for me. My hands started to shake, my body was trembling as I comprehended what had just happened. I was scared-no I was terrified of not only what he could do to me, but to other girls. I looked over to the six other girls seated beside me who looked equally in shock. Our lawyer had his hands clenched into tight fists. Sure, he was angry, but he was angry about losing a case. He wouldn't go home tonight, thinking about Tamlin every moment. He wouldn't go home, knowing that he had ruined the lives of the other girls.

I sat there in shock as people started to file out of the room, talking amongst themselves as if their world hadn't just shattered. I started to shake thinking about the horrors that could come in a few months.

"No," Rhysand said loudly behind me. He stood up and his fists shook in barely controlled rage. Fire was dancing in his violet eyes, his lips set in a thin line. Before he could make a scene, a few security guards took a few threatening steps forward. After a moment, Rhys sat down and turned to face me, previous anger subdued.

"Feyre," Rhys whispered as he crouched in front of my chair. He reached toward me and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. I couldn't look at him, I just stared at my hands in my lap.

"He'll find me, he'll never let me go," I shook with the words, shivering deep in my core. Who knew how mad Tamlin would be after he was released? I shook harder.

"I won't let him," he said with determination to make my heart swell. "He'll have to get through me before he even looks in your direction." I wanted to believe him, I so badly wanted to. But once Tamlin had his mind set on something, someone, he would do anything to get it back.

Rhys raised me up and enveloped me in his arms while I cried. There was no one left in the courtroom, all the other victims having left with their companions.

I held onto the front of his shirt while he cooed soothing words above my head.

"Listen Feyre," Rhys said, holding me at arm's length. He searched my eyes before saying, "he is going to jail-no matter how long it may be, it's still time that you are free of him. So tomorrow, we're going to start college and forget all of this. Okay?"

I nodded softly, still not looking at him. I wanted to believe him. I wanted to forget all of this, but I knew I wouldn't.

"And when the three months is up, he'll be let out. We'll deal with it when the time comes. Together," he finished.

"Okay," I said, wiping my face as I nodded. He nodded as well, but he was no fool. For now, it was the best we could do, to believe this would all get better in time. We both knew it wouldn't.

"Let's go home," he said tentatively, leading me out of the courthouse. Home. Rhys's home, but also mine. For the first time in a long while, I had a home-I had a family, but for how long? How long until Tamlin comes back to take me? No, I wouldn't let him get close to me, to us. I would rather go back willingly than to let him anywhere near Rhys or Amara.

When we got in the car and headed back to the house I said, "thank you Rhys. For letting me stay with you. For loving me. I'm really glad you hired me that day."

He grabbed my hand with heart breaking tenderness and said, "so am I." He gave me a smile that kept me warm for the rest of the ride home.

"How did it go?" Amara asked when we got home. We'd told her that we we're going talk to some people about some bad stuff that had happened to me.

She ran up to hug me, "it was fine, sweetie," I answered. I let out a smile, but it came out more of a grimace. I could tell it didn't escape Rhys's notice.

"Amara," Rhys said, putting a hand on the small of my back, "we've had a bit of a long day, why don't you go play while Feyre rests."

"Okay," Amara answered as I put her down and she ran to her room.

"I could have played with her for a little while," I told him. I braced my hands on the counter and took a deep breath.

He placed one hand on my waist and the other on my shoulder while saying, "no, you couldn't have. What happened this morning was very draining, you need to rest; whether it be watching tv or taking a nap, you need to recharge."

I rotated and looked up at him to see the concern in his violet eyes.

I sighed, "will you stay with me?"

He kissed my forehead, lingering for a minute before whispering, "anything you need."

A/N: Ok, guys. I'm back. I want to apologize for the waiting you had to do, but I'll get back on schedule. It was my first few weeks of high school and I needed time to adjust. I'm taking a bunch of advanced and AP classes and it's consuming all of my time.

I know all of you want some action and I PROMISE YOU it will get there all in good time. Both of our schedules are really packed so it is hard to find time to write but we are working on it.

We're going to keep the same posting schedule, but I want to say that around 6:00 pm will be the time I update because I have practice every day after school and sometimes I have meets, which I don't come back from until 9:00 pm. So please be patient with me, just know that we won't ever give up on this story, but we might be a few days late.

All that aside, I really hoped you liked this chapter and this one is important because it sets up the rest of the story as well. Thank you so much for all the positive reviews it really makes my day :). I love you all and I hope you had a great day. We'll post the next chapter on Friday around this time. Thank's for all the support.