Hi all,

Thank you so much for sticking with me through this story and giving me some amazing feedback and reviews, you wouldn't believe just how much they mean to me,

I want to send a HUGE apology out for the lateness of the update I was in a car accident lately which really through me off balance, am healing thankfully and should hopefully be updating at least once a fortnight but quicker if I can I promise xxxx

Right enough waffle from me see you all at the bottom! Xxxx

Could my life really get any worse? I couldn't believe what Abe was trying to tell me. He hadn't said the words yet but the look on his face said it all.

I'm sorry Rose, I tried to them to assign somebody else but the courts were adamant that it be Belikov. He is one of the best and the courts know that and because of the charges that have been put against you they are unwilling to send anyone else."

"Urgh! Why is my life so crap at the minute! What have I done to deserve this shit?"

"Rose calm down, I know that having him come with us isn't the most ideal of situations but it could have been a lot worse, at least this way you may have the chance to talk things through and at least try and become friends if nothing else."

I realised then that I hadn't told Abe about Dimitri kissing me this morning and I knew that it wouldn't be a good to reveal it to him right at this minute as he was agitated enough as it was at the fact that I was upset about him having to come with us.

I smiled at Abe and nodded my head as though I was agreeing to what he had said while all the while inside I wanted to scream in sheer frustration. I was trying to think of a reason to give to Lissa for me going away for the weekend.

Before Abe got the chance to say any more about the upcoming trip or the fact that Dimitri was coming with us Lissa came barrelling through the door, her face alight and her Jade green eyes sparkling with unconcealed joy. When I opened myself up to the bond that we shared the force of it was so strong that had I not already been seated it would have knocked me off my feet.

Christian followed Lissa in at a slower pace and he also had a rare smile on his face. It didn't take a genius to realise that the meeting with the council had gone well for both of them. It was good to them both happy, they hadn't really had much to smile about over the last two weeks.

"Rose! Tasha managed to convince the council and the other Royals that it would be in both mine and their best interests if they still allowed me to live at Court and to go to Leigh as I had agreed with Tatiana. She also persuaded them to allow Christian to come with me so that I wont be alone.

"Lissa that is brilliant news. I'm so happy that they have made the right decision for you both. When are you due to start at Leigh?"

"We have to go again this weekend so that Christian can enrol and decide what courses he wants to take."

I felt happy for Lissa but I couldn't help the pang of jealousy that bolted through me as I realised that she once again got to go where she wanted and got to be with the person that she loved where as I was stuck here with the threat of death hanging over me and the person that I had loved beyond all comprehension couldn't even bare to look at me. Where had my life gone so wrong.

"Rose what's the matter?" Lissa asked with a worried expression growing on her pretty face and concern clear in eyes. "You look as though I just gave you the worst news possible."

"I'm sorry Liss, its not the worst news at all, I just wish that I was able to come with you. I know that you are going to have an amazing time."

Lissa looked contemplative for a minute before a smile began to form on her pale features.

"Could you not ask the courts for permission to come with me? You missed out last time coming with me."

Abe spoke quickly before I had a chance to respond and I was grateful as I couldnt think of a quick enough reason that she would believe as to why they wouldn't allow me to accompany her.

"I have already requested permission for Rose to come away with me this weekend Princess. I haven't yet had the chance to discuss it with her but I think that she needs to get away from the courts for a few days so that we can discuss the trial and see if there is any other evidence that we can present in her defence. Your going away to Leigh this weekend makes me feel less guilty for taking her away."

Both Lissa and I looked over at Abe, Lissa in slight shock that he was taking me away and me in gratitude that he had managed to give Lissa both, a reason for me not being able to go with her and also for giving me a valid reason why I would not be in court if she asked. At least I wouldn't have to lie to her too much.

"That is true Mr Mazure, I just wish that Rose could come with me, I'm going to miss her so much."

I flung myself at Lissa unable to stop the automatic feelings of guilt that surfaced every time I lied to her or caused her upset. I felt so guilty that I had lied to her regarding something as important as where I was going and that I hadn't been honest with her when she had asked me what was wrong. I hated not telling her the truth about my feelings.

I hated feeling like this and I knew that if Lissa had the power to change the events that had happened and the fact that I was facing a murder charge she would do everything possible and I loved her more for that.

"Oh Lissa, I'm going to miss you too, more than I can tell you but hopefully once the trial is over and my innocence is proven I will be allowed to join you at Leigh as your guardian just as we always planned."

"I hope so too. I have to leave to go and get changed, Tasha is wanting to throw a celebratory lunch for us in her apartment and I really have no idea what to wear."

I hugged Lissa again and to dispel the lingering feelings of guilt that I felt for lying to her. I could feel Christian watching us and realised that he had said very little while he had been here and even for Christian that was not normal. I glanced over to him and saw him giving me a knowing look as though he had seen straight through the lies that I had just told.

Once they had left, Abe also announced that he also had to leave so that he could make the arrangements for our upcoming trip. He had to make the reason for the trip authentic so he also had to find out the details of where Adrian was being sent to so that we could also visit him.

I arranged to spend the remainder of the day with Olena and Viktoria, I hadn't seen them since the day that they had visited me in the holding cell and I had missed them greatly. In fact what I needed more than anything from Olena at the moment was a hug that only a mother could give. While I had been in Russia we had become very close and she had become more of a mother to me than my own had been.

I was determined that I would enjoy my time with them, I didn't want what had occurred this morning between Dimitri and I to encroach on my time with them but I should have known that it just wouldn't happen that way.

The way that my luck had been lately I should have expected that I wouldn't be able to go through the whole afternoon without either his name coming up or us running into him.

We had decided to go to the diner where I had been arrested by the Royal Guards for our lunch, Alexander had kept a distance so that I could have my privacy and I was grateful for that as it made me feel less like a prisoner.

We had just sat down at our table when I felt the familiar prickling at the nape of my neck that me that he was close by. I looked around and saw him making his way over to where we seated. I looked down at the table not wanting to look at him. If I looked at him the thin veil of indifference that I had would slip. It took all I had to concentrate on keeping my composure so that he couldn't see how much he was affecting me.

"Roza? Would you please walk with me? I have something of importance that I really need to discuss with you."

I still refused to look at him as I answered a little more curt than maybe I should have been but my emotions were still running high and I didn't have the energy to try and be nice.

No. Sorry but I cant right at the minute as you can see I have other things planned."

"Roza, Please" He asked again in a soft voice.

My head snapped up and my stormy eyes met his dark ones once again. When I answered this time I was unable to keep the anger and pain from my tone.

"I have asked you not to call me that. I'm sorry but there is nothing that I need or want to discuss with you. Now will you please just leave me alone?"

Before Dimitri could even begin to formulate an answer Viktoria spoke up her tone harsh.

"What have you done to her? All she has ever done is love you and from what I can see you have taken that love and thrown it on the floor before grinding it to dust under your boots. Now please just leave it alone."

I looked at Viktoria stunned. I was glad that she was so perceptive of my feelings but it also meant that I would now have to explain to her what had happened between us.

"Rose I..."

"Dimka, you are my son and I love you but please listen to your sister, just for this one time. This is not the time nor the place for this conversation."

Dimitri took one look at his mothers and face, turned round and stormed away from us muttering words in Russian that I didn't understand but judging from the look on Olena's face they weren't polite.

"Right Rose, its now time to explain to me what the hell has happened between you and my stubborn, heard headed brother!"

The look that graced Viktorias face gave me no option but to tell her, she looked angry enough to kick some serious ass and I didn't want it to be mine.

"He kissed me!" I answered her "But I don't think that its what he wanted. He keeps on hurting me and hurting himself and I cant bare to hear him tell me that I was another mistake."

Olena stood up abruptly from the table, she had a fire in her onyx coloured eyes and that I hadn't seen before and rage and hurt made her vibrate. I knew who was going to be on the receiving end of it but I couldn't bring myself to feel any pity for him,

"I think that I need to go and speak to my son. I cant allow him to keep on doing this to you or himself. I cant just stand back and let him destroy the best thing in his life. Excuse me I will be back as soon as I can."

I hoped that whatever Olena said to him wasn't going to make him dislike me any more than he did at the moment although judging by the way that he kept looking at me I didn't really think that it was possible. I was brought back from my thoughts by Viktoria.

"I want you to tell me everything that has happened between you and Dimitri since you left us in Russia. I know that it was you that found out how to bring him back but how have you gone from him loving you to you not being able to bring yourself to look at him and getting upset that he kissed you. I don't understand."

I took a deep breath in and began telling her what had happened when I had left her village in Russia to Dimitri finding and catching me. I left nothing out of how Strigoi Dimitri had kept me prisoner and treated me like his own personal blood whore and how I had let him before I began to realise what I was doing. I explained to her how I had escaped and that I thought I had killed him on the bridge until I began to receive letters and then my stake through the post. I told her how we had saved him and how when he returned he had refused to see me and that terrible day in the church when he had uttered the words that felt as though he had ripped my heart out.

Once I opened the floodgates the words just came pouring out and I couldn't have stopped them even if I had wanted to. I told her how he had tried to protect me when the had come for me and how when he had looked at me in court his eyes had said that he would have done it again. I kept nothing in and told her about this morning and what had started out as an argument had turned into something totally different and of how it had all made me feel. The relief that I felt from actually telling somebody everything and not having to hide from it made me feel weak.

"WOW! No wonder you are so pissed off at him. You have risked so much including your life for him more than once because you love hi and to have that love thrown back in your face must be heart wrenching. I can also understand some of what Dimitri must be feeling though as well and I am not saying that I agree with it. Dimitri has always had a very strong sense of morals and from an early age he hated Strigoi, what the did and what they stood for so for him to have been forced into that way of life and do what he had to to survive and for him to then returned to Dhampir state and have his conscious return but not forget what he had done as Strigoi must be so hard on him."

"I understand all that but why did he have to tell me that his love had faded? Did he not realise what that would do to me. I accept that he found it hard to see me but why could he have not sat down and written it down in a letter instead of expecting me to just accept what he was saying and that his love for me had gone?"

"I wish that I had the answers for you Rose but only he can tell you that. What are you going to do about it now though?"

"I don't know. He has been assigned to accompany me when I go away with Abe this weekend and I hope that he will finally talk to me and explain it all to me instead of kissing me or ignoring me when I get upset or angry or just to stop the many questions that I have. I want him to kiss me because that is what his head and his heart are telling him that its what he really wants and that he is ready for it and that he wont turn around and reject me breaking my heart all over again."

"Hmmmm, I think that once mom has spoken to him you may find a small difference in him. She is the only person until you who understood him and was able to talk to him and make him listen."

"Well I wont hold my breath waiting for a miracle to happen."

Viktoria laughed at my expression and was about to say something else when our food arrived. I was still getting used to being able to eat real food again so I took my time and savoured every last bit.

We decided after we had finished our meal that we would take a walk around the court and explore the many different shops that were there, it was like a small town within itself and there was a variety of things to look at.

The afternoon quickly turned to evening and Tomas arrived to take over from Alexander who looked so grateful that I was forced to laugh. He had been made to come to every shop that we had visited and wait whilst we had tried on various outfits.

We went back to the guest apartments where Olena and Viktoria were staying and ate a traditional Russian dish, I was dubious at first but to my great susurpriseound it enjoyable. Olena never mentioned what had been said between she and Dimitri and I never asked. I didn't want to know.

The remainder of the week consisted of much the same apart from I tried to spend as much time with Lissa as I could, she still needed the reassurance that I was here. I continued with my training and tried to avoid Dimitri as much as possible although when he had seen me and tried to catch my eye or attempt to talk to me I had been cool with him and walked away.

Abe had been noticeably absent throughout the week and I worried about what he had been doing. I know that not all of his activities are legal and I hoped that he would not do anything to put his credibility as a lawyer at risk. He finally arrived back in court on Thursday afternoon and advised me that we would be flying out on his private jet at seven am the next morning and would arrive at our hotel at approximately ten am. We were due to meet with mark and Oksana that morning so that I could discuss with them exactly what I needed their help with.

We still hadn't heard from Viktor regarding a meeting with him but knowing him as I did I knew that he would contact me at the last minute so that I had no time to organise a surprise ambush. I also needed to make sure that I could meet with Sydney and also go to the bank and find out as much information as I could. I also wanted to make time to go and see Adrian, even though we weren't a couple any more I still cared enough about him to want to make sure that he had settled in and was okay.

I don't know how he did it but Abe also managed to persuade the courts that it would be beneficial for me to be allowed a stake for the trip. I was glad that he had done so as I didn't want to go to Vegas unprotected, I had made too many Strigoi enemies.

I still had no plan or idea on how to handle the situation with Dimitri, I knew that at some point during the trip we would have to discuss some of the issues that were between us but I didn't know if I was ready to hear what I knew was going to come. Was I ready for him to snap off another piece of my heart and stand on it. No I wasn't but I would prepare myself as much as I possibly could and not show him just what he kept on doing to me.

I spent the remainder of Thursday evening with Lissa and Christian in her apartment, relaxing like we had done so many times in the past before we had been caught and sent back to the academy. She was trying to pack for her trip to Leigh and kept asking our opinion on the different outfits that she chose.

When it was time for me to leave I was surprised when Christian offered to walk me back to my apartment but he explained that he wanted to see Tasha before he left tomorrow and she wasn't too far from me.

As soon as we had left Lissa's building he grabbed my arm and pulled me to one side.

"What's going on Rose? I know that you have been lying to Lissa about something and I want to know what it is. I don't believe you when you say that you are going away for a few days with Abe, are you sure that you will not be leaving Lissa here and never coming back? I need to know so that I can prepare myself for her hurt!"

"NO! I could never do that, I remember how much it hurt to be away from her when I was in Russia and I could never do that to either one of us again."

"So why are you going? I know you well enough now to know when you are lying to me and after all that we have been through together I think that you at least owe me the truth."

Shit! I knew that I would have to come up with something that was plausible and convincing enough for him to believe me but not something that he could go back and tell Lissa and cause her any concern. I didn't know what that would be but I knew that I had to think fast.

A/N

Thanks again to all of you that are still reading and reviewing this story, the reviews mean so much and more addictive than a Strigoi bite. Please feel free to tell me if there is something that you don't like as constructive criticism helps me to make the story better.

Lots of love sar xxxxx