Rosemarie Hathaway

Shocked I requested if I could see Lissa, an hour later she walked into my room. "Hey Rose," she said casually, she looked tired. Of course she was tired, she was the Queen of Moroi. "Hey Lissa," I said gesturing for her to sit down, we sat looking at each other for a few moments before she said, "so you asked to see me?" "Yeah, why didn't you tell me you were the new Queen?" She frowned, breathed, then looked up, "I'm sorry, you were on probation because everyone thinks you kill Tatiana and I didn't want something else on your mind." Silently I cursed myself, I should've guessed that she had withheld the information on my behalf, I had no right to question Lissa. When she was the one who had saved me as a Strigoi. Eddie Castile walked in, he was appointed as Lissa's guardian but Royals and especially Queens tended to have more than one. His face lit up when he saw me, he was one of my friends and he was probably shocked that I had been turned into a Strigoi and what I had done. I hadn't even thought about how I had affected people I knew that way, another thing to add to my drowning ocean of regret. Eddie announced, "the Council is deciding today, they want Rose and you to come with Leo." Leo was an old Moroi with white hair, his skin so white it looked translucent and I could see everyone one of his veins. Instead of avoiding me like most Moroi did, he walked up and took both my hands. Shaking them fervently he looked at my eyes, "she's a Dhampir all right, not even a fleck of red!" I rolled my eyes but he didn't notice because he turned to Lissa when she started talking. "Leo is one of the Royals who accepted the fifth element, spirit." My eyes widened with surprise, very few Moroi that were not our friends believed in spirit, I knew how rare a Royal one was. Feeling the bond I could see how proud she was that she found him, she was just slightly disappointed that he wasn't on the Council. Still, it was a huge find and would bring us another step forward in influencing other Royals and Moroi in our favor. "He's also a messenger for the Council, he helps carry information for Royal Moroi all across the world." He interrupted her, "but right now I'm supposed to bring you to the Council, we should hurry since we are already late."

We were 2 minutes late because we ran. An old woman called Ariana Szelsky, I heard she was one of the people running for Queen against Lissa, said, "you're late, but we couldn't start without the defense." The entire Council sat in a enormous hall facing me, on both sides of the hexagonal room there were bleachers with Moroi sitting and whispering with each other. They called Adrian up first, one of them asked him, "what is your full name?" He cleared his throat, "Adrian Ivashkov." The offense would begin then we would follow with our defense, the offense was some political Royal who doesn't want a "Strigoi" guarding the Queen, but it was unlikely he actually cared about Lissa. Also, he wanted justice for all the deaths I had caused, how could anyone miss her. Cursing myself, maybe I was still thinking like a Strigoi, no... I'll make it up by guarding Lissa with my life and always putting her first, even though it would never fully make up for what I did. We, the defense, were aiming for me to be pardoned of all the crimes, since I was a Strigoi then, and allowed to be one of Lissa's guardians.

Attorney Clay began, "how did you find Rosemarie Hathaway?" Adrian looked at the wall behind Clay, "Guardian Ronalds was guarding a Moroi in New York, he recognized Rose." Nodding, "so you went to New York, what happened when you found her?" Still avoiding eye contact he said, "she captured us and brought her back to a Strigoi lair." Clay had a small smile, "how did she capture you?" Adrian's head snapped in Clay's direction, Clay's smile grew wider and crueler every second Adrian recounted what happened. How I had toyed with his emotions and then used compulsion to knock him out, how I had flung Dimitri against the wall, and how I had drunk from Lissa and thought it was the sweetest blood I had ever tasted. I stopped listening and slipped into Lissa, at least I would get to hear things from her point of view instead of my memories. She wasn't paying attention to Adrian, Clay, or even me. Lissa was looking at something a few rows behind me. Pushing myself out of the bond, I glanced at where Lissa had been staring.

Dimitri was looking down at me, our eyes met and I wanted it to last an eternity. Summoning all the willpower I had, I looked away, seeing him reminded me of what I had done to those I care about. Adrian was sitting next to me again, he squeezed my hand, either to reassure me or for reassurance. It didn't matter. "Queen Lissa Dragomir," announced a Council member. Clay asked the same questions but was more respectful and was better at hiding his emotions this time. The next name the Council called sent a chill down my back. I had tried not to think about what I did to him when I had become Queen of New York but unlike the others, I had visited him twice a week.

Flashback

I walk in the room, Dimitri was there and he had his hands up, as if he was about to punch me to death. "Rose?" He whispered, shocked. "Hey Dimitri, I thought I would pop in," I said, smiling. Taking one step forward, I pull him towards me and he lets out a small gasp, I look into his eyes. I kissed him on the lips, he kissed me back. At some point, I pushed him on the bed and traced the arms on his lines. Kissing his neck I didn't even look up when I sunk my teeth into him, it wasn't anything compared to Lissa's but it was better than the group of humans Wes and I had killed last night. My alarm went off, the sun had set, leaving him lying on the bed high without a second thought.

The room cleared to a setting I remembered too distinctly. Dimitri was talking angrily to me, "why do you do this? Do you visit Adrian?" I shrug, "I visit Adrian but he's soo much more boring than you." His voice serious when he said, "we could turn you back Rose, just let Adrian or Lissa," "stab me with a stake?" I interrupted, I hadn't liked where the conversation was going, talking was dull. "Being a Strigoi is amazing, the strength and speed, you have no idea..." he was distracted listening to my words when I bit him, shock filled his expression before a smile lit his face. He was still staring at the ceiling...

I was pulled from the flashback when Clay asked the question he had asked the others, with a bored tone because he probably expected the same answer. "What happened during your imprisonment in New York, were you tortured...?" Dimitri tensed, everyone in the room felt it, and Clay like a hungry shark repeated the question. "Were. You. Tortured?""No." But Clay was too caught up in this possibility of new damning evidence to take "no" as an answer. "What happened when you were imprisoned?" He asked eagerly. "A couple times a week Rose would come and she'd drink from me..." His voice was blocked out by the loud conversations between Moroi that continuously increased volume, I could catch the words from a few. "She drank from him? Weren't they dating?" "He's a blood whore!" "Why'd she do it?" I wondered the last question too, I think it was just for something to do when it was morning, it was a careless answer but it was true. Lissa was still not showing any emotion but I could tell that she was mortified, this was the reason I wouldn't be with him she realized. Throughout all my looking around the room, suddenly I was staring Dimitri in the eye. His eyes were sad, he didn't want to say something incriminating against our case but he was duty bound. What bothered me most was that he was apologizing, I had countless things to apologize to him alone. Yet here he was, sorry for telling the truth. The trial ended with the offense concluding what they had to say after talking with a few people who had supported Tatiana's rule.

My father opened the defensive case the next morning with, "she's not a Strigoi." Clay looked incredulous but he was only there because the law required him to be, a Council asked, "what do you mean she's not a Strigoi?" He smiled, "I mean that her eyes aren't red, she can walk in the sun, her skin isn't pale anymore, and all she wants to do is make peace with herself by guarding Lissa." Many of the Moroi in the room weren't even paying attention to his words, if they were then it would be more uproar than yesterday, they were paying attention to his clothes. What was he doing? Abe was wearing a suit but his scarf was a tie die with bright orange with a light skin pink swirls and lime green polka dots. Then he announced, "I conclude my offense." This time Clay spluttered, "w...without even t...talking to witnesses!?" Abe smiled, then nodded, "that's what I just said," as though he was explaining to a 3-year old. After ten minutes the Council came out with their answer, "after a nearly unanimous decision" to execute me, I thought, "Rosemarie Hathaway is cleared of all charges and is now appointed one of the Royal guard to Queen Lissa Dragomir." Abe smirked so I walked over to him, "thanks, but how did you do it?" "I think that I'm just extremely convincing," he winked and walked towards my mother. Adrian was standing next to me, he had a knowing smile, "you know how he did it" I exclaimed. He nodded, "it's Abe Mazur little Dhampir, you know what he said to me if I broke your heart, he probably threatened half of them and payed the rest off." His face turned more serious, "Rose, would you give me a chance?" I started to ask what he meant when he broke me off, "I mean will you go out with me, if you don't want to after a while then we'll just end it and stay friends." I had known that Adrian cared for me and I cared for him too, I guess since I wasn't with Dimitri anymore. Instead of answering I kissed him, out of the corner of my eye I could see Dimitri watching me and then walking out, alone.