Disclaimer: These characters and world is owned by Richelle Mead. This plot is mine.

Author's note: I'll admit that I was a little ignorant of my habit for cliffhangers (Sorry Nhaiyen) and I did not disappoint for this chapter. Thank you all so much for the responses, I'm having issues with alert, so I didn't see a lot of the reviews initially. In response to RiversPond, PJwalterman and Isabel97811: You'll just have to keep reading, but rest assured I am a massive Romitri fan. Finally, Stardreamer26086, You read my first story first, my first favourite and you commented on reputation first, thank you so much.

Chapter 3

I paced the walls of, Ironically, Dimitri's old cell, trying to piece all the information that I knew.

Tatiana was dead.

Not just dead, but murdered.

They think I did it.

"Love fades …"

I had become comatose as they laid the charges against me, barely listening.

How had that happened? How had that happened around here? This Court was one of the most secure places in the world, and Tatiana in particular was always guarded by the royal guard, the guardian elite. Unless she'd left Court-and I was pretty sure she hadn't-no Strigoi could have killed her.

With the constant threats we faced, murder among dhampirs and Moroi was almost unheard of. Sure, it happened. It was inevitable in any society, but with the way ours was hunted, we rarely had time to turn on each other.

The next question, Why me? I was no lawyer, but I was pretty sure calling someone a sanctimonious bitch was not hard evidence in a trial. And most importantly, what evidence did they have that made me the suspect?

I tried getting more details from the guards outside my cell, but they remained hard-faced and silent. After making my voice hoarse from shouting, I slumped onto the bed and went to Lissa's mind, where I was certain I'd get more information.

Lissa had lost her mentors Priscilla Vida and now Tatiana, she didn't know who to go to for information. Seeing her agitation, Christian clasped her hand. "Aunt Tasha will know what's going on," he said. "She'll turn up sooner or later. You know she won't let anything happen to Rose."

Lissa knew there was a bit of uncertainty in that statement but didn't mention it. Tasha might not want anything to happen to me, but she certainly wasn't particularly well-liked among the royal crowd.

Lissa and Christian met up with Adrian and his mother Daniela. He convinced his mother to ask her cousin to represent me as my lawyer. I shuddered at the idea of Adrian doing me a favour when I hadn't spared him a thought when I relentlessly pursued Dimitri last night. I felt terrible regarding how I treated Adrian, this was the second time that I had tried to get over Dimitri with someone else and I was going to break his heart.

"Love fades…"

I was more devastated by the words spoken to me by Dimitri, did he ever love me at all?

I'd fallen into sort of a numb haze by then and almost didn't recognize Mikhail standing in front of my cell door. I leapt from my bed to the bars and saw that he was unlocking the door. Hope surged through me.

"What's going on?" I asked. "Are they letting me go?"

"I'm afraid not," he said. His point was proven when, after opening the door, he promptly put my hands in cuffs. I didn't fight it. "I'm here to take you to your hearing."

"Stepping into the hall, I saw other guardians gathered. My own security detail. A mirror of Dimitri's. I didn't need anything reminding me of him.

Mikhail and I walked together, and mercifully, he spoke along the way instead of maintaining that awful silence that seemed to be common treatment for prisoners.

"What's the hearing exactly? A trial?"

"No, no. Too soon for a trial. A hearing decides whether you're going to trial."

"That sounds kind of like a waste of time," I pointed out. We emerged from the guardians' building, and that fresh, damp air was the sweetest thing I'd ever tasted.

"It's a bigger waste of time if you go to a full-fledged trial, and they realize there was no case to stand on. At the hearing, they'll lay out all the evidence they have, and a judge-or, well, someone acting as a judge-will decide if you should have a trial. The trial makes it official. That's where they pass the verdict and dole out the punishment.

"Why'd they take so long for the hearing? Why'd they make me wait in that cell all day?"

He laughed, but not because he thought it was funny. "This is fast, Rose. Very fast. It can take days or weeks to get a hearing, and if you do go to trial, you'll stay locked up until then."

I swallowed. "Will they move fast on that too?"

"I don't know. No monarch's been murdered in almost a hundred years. People are running wild, and the Council wants to establish order. They're already making huge plans for the queen's funeral-a giant spectacle that'll distract everyone. Your hearing is also an attempt to establish order."

"What? How?"

"The sooner they convict the murderer, the safer everyone will feel. They think this case against you is so solid, they want to rush it through. They want you to be guilty. They want to bury her knowing her killer is moving toward justice, so that everyone can sleep easy when the new king or queen is elected."

"But I didn't-" I let my denial go.

I didn't even know any detail of the case and I hadn't been questioned, which I thought was an oversight, but what did I know about the justice system.

"Do you think… do you think they'll send me to trial?" He didn't answer. One of the guards held the door open for us.

"Mikhail?" I urged. "Will they really put me on trial for murder?"

"Yes," he said sympathetically. "I'm pretty sure they will."

I walked into the courtroom and I could see people staring at me. I walked with confidence, keeping my head held high and I was grateful for the presence of mikhail next to me.

Next to me sat a fashionable man who wouldn't look me in the eye. His hair was a pale blond, lightly laced with the first signs of silver. Somehow, he made it look good. I presumed this was Damon Tarus, my lawyer.

More prominent royal moroi such as Daniela Ivashkov sat at the front. Further back I saw Lissa, Christian, Tasha, Adrian and Eddie, all with grim, worried faces.

A woman sat at a dais in front of me, whom I didn't recognise. Presumably the judge, although Victor Dashkov's trial was presided over by the queen. In her absence it fell to the clinical council to rule in my case.

The judge called the room to attention and the council entered with her announcing them one by one. Of course, only eleven of the spots were filled, and I tried not to scowl. Lissa should have been sitting there. When the Council was settled, the judge turned to face the rest of us and spoke in a voice that rang through the room. "This hearing is now in order, in which we will determine whether there is enough evidence to.."

A commotion at the door cut her off, and the audience craned their necks to see what was going on.

"What's this disturbance about?" the judge demanded. One of the guardians had the door partially open and was leaning out, apparently speaking to whoever was in the hall. He ducked back into the room.

"The accused's lawyer is here, Your Honour." The judge glanced at Damon and me and then delivered a frown to the guardian. "She already has a lawyer."

The guardian shrugged and appeared comically helpless. This bizarre interruption of protocol was beyond his skill set.

The judge sighed. "Fine. Send whoever it is up here and let's get this settled."

"Oh dear lord," I said out loud as I saw my father, Abe Mazur walk through the door. Dressed in a grey cashmere suit with a bright white shirt and crimson tie. This was possibly the most toned down outfit I'd ever seen him wear.

"Ibrahim Mazur," she said, with a shake of her head. There were equal parts amazement and disapproval in her voice. "This is . . . unexpected."

Abe swept her a gallant bow. "It's lovely to see you again, Paula. You haven't aged a day."

"We aren't at a country club, Mr. Mazur," she informed him. "And while here, you will address me by my proper title."

"Ah. Right." He winked. "My apologies, Your Honour." Turning, he glanced around until his eyes rested on me. "There she is. Sorry to have delayed this. Let's get started."

Damon stood up. "What is this? Who are you? I'm her lawyer."

Abe shook his head. "There must have been some mistake. It took me a while to get a flight here, so I can see why you would have appointed a community lawyer to fill in."

"Community lawyer!" Damon's face grew red with indignation. "I'm one of the most renowned lawyers among American Moroi."

"Renowned, community." Abe shrugged and leaned back on his heals.

"I don't judge. No pun intended."

"Mr. Mazur," interrupted the judge, "are you a lawyer?"

"I'm a lot of things, Paula-Your Honour. Besides, does it matter? She only needs someone to speak for her."

"And she has someone," exclaimed Damon. "Me."

"Not anymore," said Abe, his demeanour still very pleasant. He had never stopped smiling, but I thought I saw that dangerous glint in his eyes that frightened so many of his enemies. He was the picture of calm, while Damon looked like he was ready to have a seizure.

"Your Honour-"

"Enough!" she said in that resounding voice of hers. "Let the girl choose." She fixed her brown eyes on me. "Who do you want to speak for you?"

"I . . ." My mouth dropped open at how abruptly the attention shifted to me. I'd been watching the drama between the two men like a tennis match, and now the ball had hit me in the head.

"Rose."

Startled, I turned slightly. Daniella Ivashkov had crept over in the row behind me. "Rose," she whispered again, "you have no idea who that Mazur man is."

Oh, didn't I? I can credit this man for being part of my conception, but she didn't know that.

"You want nothing to do with him. Damon's the best. He's not easy to get."

She moved back to her seat, and I looked between my two potential lawyers' faces. I understood Daniella's meaning. Adrian had talked her into getting Damon for me, and then she had talked Damon into actually doing it. Rejecting him would be an insult to her, and considering she was one of the few royal Moroi who'd been nice to me about Adrian, I certainly didn't want to earn her dislike.

Besides, if this was some setup by royals, having one of them on my side was probably my best chance at getting off. And yet… there was Abe, looking at me with that clever smile of his. He was certainly very good at getting his way, and he was sly and my father.

But I barely knew him and certainly didn't trust him.

Although he did go searching for me in Russia, twice and made sure that I made it home safely.

I looked into his eyes, eyes that were practically mine, it was like he was trying to tell me to pick him. For some reason my mother trusted him too.

I sighed and gestured toward him. "I'll take him."

In an undertone, I added, "Don't let me down, Zmey."

As Damon left in a huff, the judge started with the standard opening speech.

As she spoke, I leaned toward Abe.

"What have you gotten me into?" I hissed to him.

"Me? What have you gotten yourself into? Couldn't I have just picked you up at the police station for underage drinking, like most fathers?"

I was beginning to understand why people got irritated when I made jokes in dangerous situations.

"My fucking future's on the line! They're going to send me to trial and convict me!"

Every trace of humour or cheer vanished from his face. His expression grew hard, deadly serious. A chill ran down my spine.

"That," he said in a low, flat voice, "is something I swear to you is never, ever going to happen."

The Prosecuting lawyer, Iris Kane laid out the evidence, describing the queen's grizzly murder in detail. How'd she'd been found this morning in bed, a silver stake through her heart and a profound look of horror and shock on her face. Blood had been everywhere: on her nightgown, the sheets, her skin… The pictures were shown to everyone in the room, triggering a variety of reactions. Gasps of surprise. More fear and panic. And some… some people wept.

After the pictures, they called me up. The hearing didn't run the way a normal trial did. There was no formal switching back of lawyers as they questioned witnesses. They each just sort of stood there and took turns asking questions while the judge kept order.

"Miss Hathaway," began Iris, dropping my title.

"What time did you return to your room last night?"

"I didn't" I replied

"Where were you?" She asked

I turned to the judge "Can I please confer with my council before I answer that question"

The judge allowed me to briefly step down and walk up to Abe. I was sweating buckets at this point because I knew things were going to get pretty nasty. I felt his presence and looked up, catching eyes with Dimitri at the back of the room.

His eyes were dark and endless, his eyes scanning me. Only I couldn't read what he was feeling. His face betrayed nothing, but there was something in his eyes… Something intense and intimidating.

I looked at Abe and muted the microphone near us, whispering very softly to Abe. "I was with Dimitri, all day and all night". Mikhail coughed, I assumed he was trying to cover his shock or stop himself from laughing. I wasn't sure which.

Abe's eyes narrowed at me "Doing what?"

"What do you think, the same thing that led to my conception" I replied, not looking him in the eye.

"Again, picking you up for under age drinking is much preferable to this. Do you have other witnesses?"

"He had five guardians outside standing guard… and um." I trailed off. "Neighbours either side were banging on the walls all night". I was utterly mortified to be having to tell my father about this.

Abe didn't look at me, but looked at the judge. "Your honour, we have multiple witnesses that can account for Guardian Hathaway's whereabouts at the time of the murder. I need a short recess to locate these witnesses. I'd also like to point out that the prosecution has not provided Guardian Hathaway with a timeline for the murder, nor have they questioned her"

"You have 30 minutes Mr Mazur, Guardian Hathaway with remain under guard.

Abe got up quickly, and made a beeline for Dimitri in the back.

Shit

Oops I did it again…

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