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Chapter 24

They pulled up and Rose jumped out. I felt relief surge through me seeing that she was alright.

"It wasn't Daniella," she said, approaching us.

And then she told us who the murderer was.

To say I was shocked was an understatement.

"Impossible, I can't believe that," Adrian commented coldly after a moment. "You Alchemist pals are wrong."

"The motives are there…" Rose muttered. "And they are political. Ambrose was right."

"Ian's ID is hard evidence," I said, still trying to organise my thoughts after hearing the true identity of the killer. "But there are a lot of other holes, a lot of pieces that don't fit into it."

"Yeah," Rose said. "Like why I was set up for the fall."

That was one question I had. Why had she blamed Rose? And how had she gotten into the queen's chambers in the first place?

"We need to get back to Court," Mikhail said, breaking us all out of our thoughts. "Or I'm going to be missed."

"And you've got to make your debut," Rose said and smiled comfortingly at Jill.

There was only room for five in the car, so it was decided that Mikhail, Rose, Jill, Adrian and I would go while Sonya would stay behind.

Rose slipped her charmed bracelet back on, hiding her identity. Another problem was that I would be recognised going back into Court so had to be disguised as well. Having left Sonya behind, meant that Adrian was the one who had to do it. Adrian however, didn't seem like he was going to help.

"We have to help Lissa," Rose said to him when he didn't answer.

"Time's running out," she pleaded. "Please. Please help us."

He took a deep breath. There was silence for a moment before he eventually nodded and agreed. "Let's go."

We took off in the direction of Court. Mikhail drove while I sat in the passenger's seat. Rose sat with Adrian and Jill in the back.

"Motive? Yes." Rose said as we analysed every part of the data we had collected. "Ability? Yes. Paying off Joe? Yes. Access to Tatiana's chambers…Yes."

I glanced back at her. "Really?" I asked her. "That was one piece I couldn't figure out."

"Pretty sure I know how she did it," Rose replied. "But the anonymous letter to Tatiana doesn't make sense. Not to mention obscuring Lissa's family – or trying to kill her."

"We might be dealing with more than one person," I suggested.

"Like a conspiracy?" she asked me shocked.

"No," I replied, shaking my head. "I mean, someone else had a grudge against the queen. But not someone who'd go as far as to kill her. Two people, two agendas. Probably not even aware of each other. We're mixing up the evidence." Daniella was still a pretty big suspect in my opinion; not that I could say that with her son sitting right behind me.

Both Rose and Mikhail were silent, processing my words.

While we were trying to conjure up more probable ideas, Adrian was uttering soothing words to a slightly distressed Jill.

"What do I do?" she whispered to him.

"Act like you deserve to be there," he replied surely. "Don't let them intimidate you."

"What about Lissa? What's she going to think of me?"

I wonder briefly how Lissa would react to finding out about her father having an illegitimate daughter, but I quickly cast the thought away – Rose was my priority.

"Doesn't matter," Adrian told her. "Just act the way I told you."

As Mikhail approached the gates of Court, I felt my nerves set in. If we were caught, we were in trouble.

They recognised Mikhail of course, but overlooked Rose and I. They even overlooked Jill, which, in my opinion, was pretty careless but I was thankful in this case.

"Oh my god," Rose said as we drove in through the gates. "It worked."

"Now what?" Jill asked us.

"Now we re-establish the Dragomir line and call out a murderer," Rose answered.

"Oh, is that all?" Adrian said sarcastically, but there was more to that sarcasm. His tone was cold.

"You know," Mikhail said. "that the instant your illusions are dropped, you two are going to be jumped by guardians and thrown back into jail. Or worse."

I looked at Rose who looked at me. I knew she was thinking about those jail cells back at Court.

"We know," she answered. "But if everything works out…we won't have to stay there for long. They'll use what we've found out and then eventually set us free."

She was putting on a brave face but I could see the fear hidden in her eyes.

The five of us left the car walked towards the ballroom's building. There were hundreds of people surrounding the entrance. Mikhail told us quietly that people were not allowed in but guardians were under certain conditions.

He managed to get us through, using Adrian as a reason. The guardians didn't seem to notice Jill as we walked through.

A disguised Rose led the way up through the loud, crowded room, the rest of us following closely. She stopped halfway and turned to face us.

"We need someone to get the room's attention," she said loudly, trying to be heard over the noise. "Someone not afraid to make a spectacle – I mean, besides me, of course."

Suddenly, a familiar voice spoke loudly.

"Mikhail? Where have you been?" We all watched as Abe Mazur stalked towards us.

"Well, speak of the devil," Rose said. "Exactly what we need."

Abe narrowed his eyes at her; not in a menacing way, more like he was trying to figure out who the hell she was. I could see in his face that he knew something wasn't right with this mysterious disguised person.

"What's going on?" he demanded.

"The usual, old man," Rose said light heartedly, using her old nickname for him. "Danger, insane plans…you know, the stuff that runs in our family."

Abe's eyes narrowed once again at her use of the nickname. Realisation and incredulity showed on his face.

"Rose? Is that you? Where have you been?" If I was not mistaken, there was also a small bit of relief hidden in his eyes…as well as disappointment.

"We need the room's attention," she told him, ignoring his previous questions. "We've got a way to settle this whole argument."

"Well, we've at least got a way to start another one," Adrian commented, obviously annoyed.

"I trusted you at my hearing," Rose said to her father, ignoring Adrian. "Can't you trust me now?"

"You apparently didn't trust me enough to stay put in West Virginia." He retorted wryly.

"Technicalities," Rose replied. "Please. We need this."

"And we're short on time," I added, trying to get a move on.

Abe's gaze turned from his daughter to me.

"Let me guess. Belikov?" He didn't seem so sure, but it was a good guess.

"Dad," Rose started, immediately grabbing her father's attention after using the word 'dad'. "We have to hurry. We've got the killer – and we've got Lissa's…A chance to change Lissa's life."

Abe looked around and seemed to be searching for someone. After a small inclination of his head, Rose's mother, Janine Hathaway joined our little group.

"Who are these people?" she asked him.

"Guess," Abe replied. "Who would be foolish enough to break into Court after escaping it?"

Shock hit Janine's face. "How –"

"No time," Abe stopped her. "I have a feeling half the guardians in this room are going to be all over us soon. Are you ready for that?"

After a moment's hesitation when she realised what was happening, she answered.

"Yes."

"Me too," Mikhail added.

"I guess there are worse odds," Abe said, studying us.

We followed Abe as he made his way up to the podium where Nathan Ivashkov was standing, half-attempting to get the crowd's attention.

Abe simply shoved him out of the way and took hold of the microphone. Suddenly, he let out a ear-piercing whistle, effectively grabbing the room's attention, as well as deafening half of them.

The room went silence and looked in our direction.

"Now that you have the sense to keep your mouths shut," Abe said confidently. "We have…some things to say."

He stepped back from the mic and muttered a few words to Rose, who took the mic from him.

She cleared her throat and began to speak. "We're here to, uh, settle this debate once and for all." She didn't sound as confident as she usually did; it probably had something to do with the hundreds of faces staring up at her.

"The laws can stay the way they are," she said, her voice growing stronger. "Vasilisa Dragomir is entitled to her Council vote – and eligible to be a full candidate for the throne. There's another member in her family. She isn't the only Dragomir left."

Whispering broke out among the crowd after she said this. I carefully watched the guardians, who were moving as one to surround us. It dawned on me that the circle was not to trap us; it was to keep us safe from the mob.

Rose turned and beckoned Jill, who unfroze and took a few tentative steps towards her.

"This is Jillian Mastrano Dragomir," Rose continued once Jill was by her side. "She's Eric Dragomir's illegitimate daughter – but she is his daughter and officially part of the bloodline."

"I am a Dragomir," Jill spoke shakily into the microphone, her voice echoing in the silent courtroom. "Our family has its quorum, and my s-sister has all her rights."

Abe sensing the evident outburst of outrage, jumped towards the two girls and the microphone. "For those who don't believe this, a DNA test will clear up any doubts about her lineage."

There were a few seconds silence, and then the shouting began.

"Eric Dragomir didn't have any other children, illegitimate or not!"

"This is a scam!"

"Show us the proof! Where are your tests?"

"Well…he was kind of a flirt…"

And one more, that left everybody in a stunned silence.

"He did have another daughter."

It came from none other than Daniella Ivashkov.

Looking down at her, she had stood up from her seat as she addressed the room and confirmed what Rose was saying.

"Eric Dragomir had an illegitimate daughter, with a woman named Emily Mastrano – a dancer, if I recall correctly. He wanted it kept a secret and needed certain things done – things he couldn't do himself – to help with that. I was one of the few who helped. And honestly, I wouldn't have minded it staying secret either."

She directed the last part at Rose, with a bitter smile.

"Enough that you'd make certain papers disappear," Rose replied, not bothering to take the microphone back out of Abe's hands. She didn't need it anyway, her confidence spoke volumes.

"Yes." Daniella replied.

"Because if the Dragomirs faded, spirit might too," Rose continued. "And Adrian would be safe. Spirit was getting too much attention too fast, and you needed to get rid of any evidence about Jill to kill Vasilisa's credibility. Then why admit it now?"

"Because you're right," Daniella answered, shrugging. "One DNA test will show the truth."

The crowd seem to gasp as one in shock and awe. Looking into the crowd, I still saw a lot of disbelieving scornful faces.

"What I'd like to know is:" Daniella said loudly, her eyes scrutinising Rose. "who in the world are you?"

I looked over at Rose and saw her hesitate. After a moment, I saw the decision in her face.

Now was a better time than any.

She ripped the charmed bracelet from around her wrist.

"I'm Rose Hathaway."

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