DISCLAIMER: RICHELLE MEAD IS A VERY LUCKY WOMAN AND HAS THE HONOR OF OWNING DIMITRI ANF ADRIAN. I, UNFORTUNATELY, DON'T. humph.

Chapter 3

"Hey, kiddo, it's a big day today." Abe was shaking me and coaxing me awake.

"You said you wouldn't let me go to trial." I glared at him. I'd trusted him, and he let me down.

"I know, and I'm sorry. There was nothing I could do. But I promise I won't let them kill you. I will do everything in my power to stop that happening." I looked at him and saw that he was telling the truth, but then I had a thought.

"Hey, why'd they let you in here?"

"Today's the trial. They moved it forward. The Royals were getting anxious. I came to wake you up and tell you there's a bathroom you can use in one hour's time. Tomas will come and get you and then you'll have thirty minutes in there. When you get back, you have three hours to prepare yourself for this. I'm so sorry for this, Rose, but I promise, they will not take you." He said the last part with absolute certainty, and a tear escaped from the corner of my eye.

"But what is they find me guilty? What will you do then?"

"I have every right to appeal for you, all I need to do is supply sufficient evidence in court, and then ask for an appeal. It works just like any court of law."

"I think there's a little difference between Death Row and being accused in the Royal Court.

"but since there is currently no Moroi Queen then the decision will go to the Royal Council, who act as a jury, and since it's a jury vote, that makes it a court of law, not a Royal court, like Victor went to."

"So I suppose that means that you've bribed the council in one way or another to vote me innocent?"

"Not exactly." Was all he said. I looked at him, eyebrows raised waiting for him to elaborate; he didn't. "I'll tell you later, when they release you." He turned to leave.

"Would you stay with me?" I asked.

"I would, but I was instructed to get in, wake you up, tell you about the trial, and get out."

"Oh, okay." I said lamely.

"I'll be back with Tomas later, and then again to take you to the trial. I have to go see your Mom." He said the last part with a small half smile.

"She's here?" I asked.

"She's coming with me later to take you to the trial. So's Alberta. I'm not allowed to escort you, only guardians can, but I suggested ones that you're close to. So Tomas, your mom, Alberta, Eddie, and Dimitri. You won't be cuffed, and even though he hasn't got his Guardian title back, he's just about the only one that can take you down. So he was allowed to come. So I'll be going now. Behave." And then he left.

My mood had improved hugely in the last minute. Dimitri was coming for me. Okay, not coming for me, but I was going to see him before I went to trial.

I decided to pass the next hour with Lissa, it's something I've been avoiding since coming in here, but the second my father walked out of my cell, there's nothing I want to do more.

"What?"

"The trial's in four and a half hours." Adrian repeated. "Eddie, Alberta, Janine, Tomas, and Dimitri are her escorts." Lissa turned to Dimitri, who had been standing silently by the wall. They were in Lissa's room, and Christian was standing behind her, trying to calm her down.

"Is it true?" Dimitri nodded. "What? Four and a half hours? Why?"

"Royals were getting edgy because it's taking too long, Liss. Abe's with her now, and he won't let them take her, you know that." Christian reassured her. She felt better and turned and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I just can't stand the thought of her being killed."

"Well there's plenty we can do about that isn't there, cousin?" Adrian said.

"What do you mean? There's nothing we—" she cut herself of, realising what Adrian had meant. "You mean compulsion. You want us to compel the whole council at once? That's not going to be easy. Adrian, even we'd not be able to pull that off. We'd need at least one more spirit user and probably a couple other Moroi. We only have Christian—"

"And I can't do compulsion." He put in.

"But, Liss, just listen." Adrian had that look in his eyes, the one that said he'd thought a lot about this. "I think Abe could be a spirit user."

"Abe? No he couldn't be, I'd be able to tell. And why is he not crazy like we can be?"

"Think about it. People used to say about Rose being unstable at St Vlad's didn't they? When I met Abe, I could see exactly where it came from. She's just like him personality-wise. It could be because she's his daughter, or it could be because she gets the crazy from you. And what if he has a shadow-kissed somewhere? But there's something about him. His Aura's just like Avery's was." Lissa flinched at the mention of Avery. "What if he doesn't want to be recognised as a spirit user and is masking his aura from us?"

"It's…possible." Lissa was reluctant to admit it, but it all makes sense. Adrian continued.

"And he never mentioned what he specialised in, either."

"Okay, Adrian. I suppose we only have four hours until we find out if you're right. And I'm not compelling anyone until we find out if you're right."

"Deal."

I pulled out of her head then. I have around twenty minutes left until Tomas comes to get me for a shower. And then there's only three hours left.

And I'm shitting myself.

I'd just had a shower and brushed my teeth to make myself presentable. They'd allowed me to wear my guardian black and white; I couldn't believe it when Tomas handed it to me.

"How come you're giving me this?" I'd asked.

"Well, they never officially renounced your title, so you're still technically a guardian. So they can't stop you wearing your outfit."

"Thank you."

They'd allowed me to bring the hairbrush and mirror from the bathroom to do my hair; I still had an elastic band on my wrist. I pulled my hair into a bun to show off my marks and then all I had to do was wait.

After three hours of waiting, six guardians appeared in front of my cell: Mom, Alberta, Eddie, Tomas, Dimitri…and…Stan?

"Roza," He whispered. Tomas unlocked my cell and I stood up and hugged my mom and began to cry.

"Mom," I whispered.

"Rose, Rose, it's okay. Shh, I'm here; I'm here. It's okay." She whispered in my ear. When she pulled back, she held onto my hand. I wiped my eyes with my free hand and turned to Dimitri.

"Hey," I said and he grabbed my hand. I held on tightly and we began walking.

"Lissa and Adrian are going to take care of it. They think Abe's a spirit user. They're going to compel the council and get you off the hook," Dimitri whispered into my ear as we walked.

"I know. And everything Adrian said made complete sense…for a change. I was there." I added, pointing to my head with our joined hands, seeing his look of confusion. Understanding crossed his features and I smiled.

We approached the courtroom and my smile faded. Dimitri squeezed my hand.

"You can do this, Roza."

I stepped into the courtroom, and I was shocked at what I saw.

"They're all here for you, Rose." Alberta whispered from behind me.

Half the school must've been here. The whole senior class of Novices were here, since they were already there, but I recognised all the guardians from the upper school, and a few from the lower school. Miss Morrell—the teacher I called a fascist bastard in Kindergarten—gave me a reassuring smile.

In the front Row were Lissa, Christian, Adrian, Mia, Jill, Emily, Tasha, Oksana, Mark and the Belikovs. They were staring open-mouthed at Dimitri. I nudged him with my elbow.

"Look," I whispered, pointing at them. He stared and his eyes began to tear up. I squeezed his hand. "Go." I said as we reached the front. He squeezed my shoulders and went to see his family. Alberta stood next to me now.

"Rose, we know you didn't do anything wrong. You just need to convince them of that now. So you go up there, and you tell them the truth. You've been set up, but they don't want to see that. They don't want to launch an investigation, it would take too long. But everyone here is here for you." I looked around and the only Moroi there were my friends and teachers. And the only Royals were Lissa, Adrian, Tasha, and Christian. She was right. "We all believe you. Now you've just got to convince them."

"Between you and Abe, you're covered." Mom added. "You will get out, Rose. I promise you. You don't know your father like I do. He would do anything for you. And he won't let you go to prison, and this is serving maximum sentence. He wouldn't let you go. I promise." She squeezed my hand.

"Come on, Rose. It's time." Abe said from behind me. Alberta squeezed my hand and went to sit with the other guardians from the Academy. I noticed Eddie, Stan, and Tomas had already sat down. Eddie was on the front row next to Lissa. I noticed they were all holding onto each other's' hands. Lissa looked like she was squeezing pretty hard; Christian looked pained. The sight almost made me laugh.

You'll be fine, Rose. We'll get you out of this. Lissa thought to me. I could only hope she was right.

I sat down with my mom on one side and my dad on the other. I held onto both their hands tightly.

"This court is now in session." The judge said loudly, slamming her hammer thing on the table. The world went in slow motion from then on. I swallowed. This is it. I felt Lissa's panic through the bond, and I once again wished it was two way.

I felt a tear slide down my face as I waited for the trial to start.
epic.

I know it was short but I wanted to have this chapter with the run up to the trial and then two more for the actual trial. I'm not sure how it will go from here, but I can only do my best, but I promise you, the next chapter will be