Vampire Academy: Doomed Love

Chapter 21 of my Vampire Academy story, enjoy.

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Wolfgirl77769: Thanks.
PERFECT or NOT: Well; here's the verdict; enjoy.
BruceDaBear: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, here's the next chapter, the verdict shall be revealed.
VikkiTayler: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, well; here are the verdicts.

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Vampire Academy belongs to Richelle Mead.

Chapter 21

LISSA POV

I watched nervously, I was praying desperately that they would be found innocent, like I and so many others knew they were. I hoped that, at least this once...They would actually follow the evidence and not let their personal beliefs and favouritism taint their view. Tatiana observed everybody and then spoke.

"We shall start with the case against Christian Ozera. After hearing the evidence presented, the witness statements and the revelations made by cross examination. On the charges of raping Princess Vasilisa Dragomir, the jury and I have agreed on the verdict. Based on the charges presented we find Christian Ozera..."

There was a really long pause as the tension mounted. Christian stood rigid, tense and appeared to be sweating. Victor looked confident, then Tatiana read the verdict.

"...Not Guilty!"

Christian's entire body slumped as he exhaled; I also breathed a sigh of relief. There was a collective murmur around the court and Victor's face fell. But before any complaint could be made Tatiana spoke again and my tension returned.

"Now for the matter of Rosemarie Hathaway, and the charges brought against her. Once again, the jury and I agree, based on everything we saw in her trial, we reached our decision."

I was petrified again, would Rose also get justice, or would the court fail her? Christian looked over at her worried but Rose, standing just as tensely as Christian, remained focused on Tatiana.

"On the charges brought against her, we have found Rosemarie Hathaway...Not Guilty!"

Much like Christian, all the tension left Rose's body at once and she slumped, I leaned back in my seat. It was over, thank god, true justice had been done, they were free.

I was about to stand up and go to them when a voice from the gallery spoke.

"This can't be right, you find both of them not guilty, yet you claimed that justice was going to be done." Everybody turned to look at the speaker, it was Adrian. "I agree with the verdict, but, surely that can't be all."

Tatiana spoke again.

"We're not finished." She stated, with a small smile. "There are still more charges to read out, and more verdicts."

"I thought so." Adrian replied with a smirk and I realized he had called out deliberately, just to add some drama.

That surprised me, what did she mean? I soon got my answer.

"Based on evidence presented to me, as well as actions committed by the subject...On charges of attempted usurpation and plotting to overthrow the Moroi government. We find Victor Dashkov guilty!"

There was stunned silence and then Victor closed his eyes and bowed his head. I couldn't believe it, he wasn't even denying it. He really had been trying to usurp Queen Tatiana. As he was arrested he simply stated.

"If you're arresting me, you might as well arrest everybody working for the prosecution." Tatiana nodded and continued.

"My thoughts exactly Victor, the next charges. Jesse Zeklos, guilty of raping Rosemarie Hathaway, Aaron Drozdov, guilty of attempted rape of Mia Rinaldi. Jesse Zeklos, Ralf Sarcozy, Aaron Drozdov, guilty of conspiracy to commit multiple rapes."

With her words the trio were also arrested. Then, finally, the last verdict came through, for her conspiracy and her attempt to frame an innocent person, Tasha was also placed under arrest.

I smiled and finally stepped towards Rose and Christian, they were both thanking Abe for his work, I could see Mason, Mia, Dimitri and Janine all approaching too. Jill was right behind me. I was still amazed at that, I actually had a half-sister.

"Hey, Christian, Rose." I called out; they turned to me and smiled.

Just then however a commotion caught her attention and then suddenly, a crowd of people were backing away. There were panicked screams as we finally saw the source; it was Tasha, armed with a gun. She had a wild look in her eye and I realized she was enraged, beyond all reason.

"You dare, you dare make these accusations against me." She snarled, "How could you possibly find her innocent...look at her."

Rose glared, "Tasha, enough, you only did this because you wanted Dimitri, and he didn't want you."

"Quiet you slut, you think you can get what you want, take whoever you want, just because you spread your legs for them!" She screamed, some Guardian's attempted to approach her but she levelled the gun at them. "Don't move, all of you stay the hell away from me."

Tatiana was about to speak but Tasha cut across her.

"I don't care what your courts think, if you find someone like Rose innocent then clearly there is no justice." She said darkly. "I see that Victor was right about one thing, we need to change things."

"Tasha, enough!" Dimitri suddenly yelled. "This is how you respond; things don't go your way, so you resort to extreme measures like this."

"Dimitri I..." She began but he shook his head.

"I know what you're going to say, but don't you see, this isn't the answer. Why is it that Christian is the only Ozera that seems to think rationally?"

Tasha's only response was to growl and level the gun at Rose.

"Dimitri, if you don't..."

"My mind is made up Tasha, you know that." He countered, "Now stop being a fool. It's over."

Tasha slowly lowered the gun.

DIMITRI POV

I exhaled softly, there was a brief pause but then Tasha spoke again.

"I see, you are right Dimitri, you've made your decision...now it's time I made mine."

With that she suddenly raised the gun again and fired indiscriminately, there were screams people taking cover, Guardian's attempting desperately to get to her. We all dropped to the ground, there were further screams and finally Tasha was restrained and being led out. I looked around, nearby Lissa was lying on the ground; Christian was lying on top of her, covering her. Jill had also dropped for cover, as had Abe. I had lost sight of Janine; she had been blocked by the crowd, from what I could see everybody else seemed safe. I turned my attention to Rose who was lying next to me. She was on her back; one of her arms was underneath her body. She was breathing heavily. Just past where she lay I could see Mia had been grazed by a bullet, her left cheek had a burn from the heat, Mason held her as she trembled. I moved over to Rose, the moment she saw me she spoke, her voice was shaking.

"Dimitri...I, I..." I spoke carefully, confused as to her reactions.

"It's gonna be okay Rose, it's gonna be fine."

Just then she pulled her hand back in front of her. It was covered in blood, her blood and her hand was shaking.

Her next words terrified me as it all sunk in. "I can't...I can't feel my legs...I can't feel my legs, I can't move them."

She been shot, a ricochet most likely, and it had hit her in the spine.

I was jolted out of my thoughts when I saw Rose's eyes start to close.

"No Rose, stay with me, c'mon." I then called out, "We need medical help here, now!"

There was chaos in the crowd as people started trying to either escape or make way for medical staff. Finally Janine had worked her way through and rushed forwards. Lissa and the others had all gathered around by now. Queen Tatiana stood at the edge of her platform, watching us, obviously concerned. I couldn't believe it, what was taking so long.

"Where's that medical help!?"

Finally they made it and, with me and the others following them, they headed to the medical wing. Rose was unconscious; I could only hope they would be able to save her in time.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.