Moroi Court Courtroom | Thursday Evening FH-Time
The day of the trial had arrived. Dimitri had not slept very long, choosing instead to get in some early (for the Moroi day) training with his colleagues and to find some necessities to outfit the novices more appropriately for the courtroom.
Entering with Alberta and the other Academy guardians set to give witness, Dimitri listened to their small talk, participating only as required. His mind was otherwise occupied, still wondering if it had been the right choice to bring the students along as he saw Rose and Lissa arriving.
Rose had been woken up before her alarm by a knock on her door and a Moroi girl delivering a packet of clothes and a note. The clothes were black slacks, a cute white blouse, and a black jacket - the same clothes guardians wore at Court and formal occasions, and Rose couldn't help the grin that spread over her face. She was joining the team for real. The note just read Wear your hair up. It was in Dimitri's handwriting.
Even though Rose had assumed a closer to proper blank guardian demeanor, the thrill - and odd feeling like she'd dressed up her mom's clothes - of wearing the uniform for real was still with her an hour later as she followed Lissa into the courtroom.
Lissa had wanted to come to the trial, felt she had to be there to see Victor receive justice, but as she walked into the courtroom, she stopped suddenly, her heart pounding with fear at seeing the man she'd once called 'uncle' again. Her gaze fell upon the seal of her family, the Dragomir dragon, the King of the beasts. The full weight of what it meant to be the last of her family, the only one who could carry on their name hit her with a swirl of emotions. She was proud - so very proud of her name, but she almost feared that she wouldn't be able to live up to it.
At Rose's nudge, she moved forward again, sitting in the front of the courtroom to wait for the proceedings to begin.
If she was wearing the uniform, she could behave like any other guardian, and Rose surveyed the courtroom as they went towards their seats. Dimitri was already there, and the sight of him reassured her. "Look at the queen's throne there," Rose murmured to Lissa as they sat. The room wasn't nearly filled, and while there was a judge at the front of the courtroom, no jury was present. "Let's hope she's on our side. She's going to be the one making the decision."
Lissa frowned at the reminder. She knew that, of course, but - "Not having a jury or anything feels weird. Seems like there's too much room for corruption."
"Yeah. But this is Victor we're talking about," Rose scoffed, tensing as Victor himself came into the courtroom. She reached over to put her hand over Lissa's as she felt fear erupt in her friend. Fear and an odd bit of regret for loving the man that had betrayed her. "It's going to be okay. I promise."
The title of Prince may have been forcibly removed when he was imprisoned, but not even the Queen could strip him of his princely attitude as he entered the courtroom. Victor Dashkov scanned the room like he was at any other Moroi function; eyes searching for the most interesting person in the room. Today that person was Vasilisa, and Victor smiled and nodded when he caught her eye.
Rose's eyes narrowed as she watched Victor and his obvious lack of caring. She tried to be as serene as the other guardians, didn't want to give him the satisfaction of an obvious reaction, but the fury that rose in her at his arrogance boiled over when he gave Lissa a nod of greeting. As her control snapped, she felt Lissa's words in her mind - Breathe, Rose. Just breathe.
"Thanks," she said when Victor had taken his seat. "It's like you could read my mind."
Lissa smiled gently at Rose, barely keeping from wincing at the pain but unwilling to pull her hand away. "No, I could just feel your hand."
"Oh God," Rose said quickly, jerking her hand back and hoping she hadn't broken any fingers while she'd been clenching Lissa's hand in her own anger. "God, I'm sorry."
They stood then knelt then as Queen Tatiana entered the courtroom, and finally the trial began. One at a time, the witnesses took the stand to give their account of the night Lissa had been kidnapped. They were mostly guardians who'd followed Rose's directions to Victor's hideout then took part in the raid.
Dimitri was the last of the guardians to take the stand as a witness to the events of that evening. Dimitri had been a member of the rescue squad as well as the first guardian made aware of the situation, so his story had begun a little earlier. "I was with my student, Rose Hathaway," he said. "She shares a bond with the princess and was the first to sense what had happened."
Victor's lawyer glanced at his notes before responding, drawing out the time as lawyers tended to do. "Based on the events, it sounds like there was a delay between when she discovered that and when you alerted the others."
Dimitri nodded, his mask of composure not slipping. "She couldn't act on what she knew because Mr. Dashkov had inflicted a charm on her, one that caused her to attack me." Saying those words, lying under oath about the lust charm very nearly broke his heart, but he did what needed to be done to protect Rose.
"Mr. Dashkov works with earth magic, and some who use that power and are strong in compulsion can influence our base instincts," Dimitri continued, the words coming out evenly despite his inner turmoil. "In this case, he affected her anger and violence through an object."
Watching Dimitri give his testimony, Rose almost couldn't believe that she was the only one to see how much it was hurting Dimitri to lie. He was doing it to protect them - to protect her especially - and while they'd agreed it was necessary, she hated to see him nearly break himself by lying under oath. If she'd considered it, she would have been more careful about the look in her eyes as she watched him, but everyone's focus was on Dimitri, and no one could see the utter love and worry she had for the man on the witness stand.
At that point, Victor choked back a loud, mocking laugh until the judge silenced him. "I'm terribly sorry, Your Honor and Your Majesty. Something in Guardian Belikov's testimony just tickled my fancy, that's all. It won't happen again."
Following Dimitri's testimony, Christian had been called to give his and identify Lissa's kidnappers as Victor's guardians, but then it was Rose's turn, and she just hoped she had that calm guardian mask as she took the oath to tell the truth. Something of what Dimitri must have felt washed over her, as she realised she was swearing in front of everyone to tell the truth when she was planning to lie as soon as anything about the lust charm was mentioned.
She gave her version of events, everything lining up with what the other guardians had said then easing into the story about the charm carefully. No one seemed to notice her lie just like no one had noticed Dimitri's - except for Victor who was smirking just a little when she accidentally glanced his way.
The look on his face made Rose work to keep her face blank and her words flowing. It wasn't just that Victor knew she was lying; it was that he could ruin her and Dimitri just by telling the truth of what had happened that night. She knew it'd reflect badly on her, but more importantly Dimitri could end up losing his position or even end up on trial himself. Rose glared at Victor, more determined to protect Dimitri and Lissa and see him in jail forever.
As her name was called, Lissa made her way to the front, sitting in the witness chair. She stayed calm and outwardly serene as she offered the courtroom the first new information of the day. She could feel the audience hang on every carefully chosen word even as internally she experienced the pain and anguish of Victor and his associate's torture again.
Lissa refused to look at the man she'd once called her uncle, focusing instead on the faces in the crowd she knew were with her - Rose, her expression so worried that Lissa tried to send her reassurance again; Christian who was always there and steady, his eyes full of love; Guardian Belikov with concern filtering through his stern guardian appearance. Between their support and Lissa's own determination to be worthy of her family's name, she made it through her testimony, never once giving away the torment she'd felt at reliving that terrible night.
Relief overwhelmed her as she was dismissed, and she took her seat next to Rose again, her hand the only part of her that trembled as she reached to take Rose's.
At last Victor had his chance to speak. They always did save the best for last. He lounged in the chair on the stand, smiling at the audience like he wasn't on trial even as they asked him the same, dull questions they'd been asking people all morning long. Finally they got to why he'd kidnapped Vasilisa. "Why, I had no choice," he said pleasantly. "I was dying. No one was going to condone me openly experimenting with the princess's powers. What would you have done in my place?"
Of course the lawyer didn't want to answer his questions and she simply asked more. "And you found coaxing your own daughter into turning Strigoi also necessary?"
Dimitri was one of the few in the audience not to shift uncomfortably at the mention of Natalie purposefully killing one of her own teachers and draining him of his blood so she could become strong and fast enough to free her father. As the one who had planted his silver stake in that new Strigoi's heart, Dimitri had his own take on the situation; and there was no sympathy for Victor involved.
Victor knew this audience couldn't possibly understand what he'd gone through when Natalie had been killed. He answered simply, showing no remorse because it wasn't his fault she was now lost to him. "Natalie made that decision."
"Can you say that about everyone you used to meet your ends? Guardian Belikov and Miss Hathaway had no say in what you made them do." The lawyer speaking was only doing her job, but the question had Dimitri steeling himself in anticipation.
Victor chuckled. "Well, that's a matter of opinion. I honestly don't think they minded. But if you have time after this case, Your Honor, you might want to consider trying a statutory rape case." The appalled looks were so worth it.
Rose had frozen as Victor had done it. He'd made good on his threat and - suddenly she realised that no one in the courtroom believed him. Even Lissa was horrified that he would stoop so low as to make up stories about her and Dimitri. She relaxed slightly, not daring to glance over towards Dimitri to see his reaction.
Considering their talk in the prison, Dimitri was almost surprised Victor had bothered going there. No one would believe a psychopath, and it was clear as Dimitri glanced around the room that no one did. He didn't chance looking toward Rose, but he knew she was feeling as relieved as he was feeling guilty.
After Victor's testimony, it was time for the queen to decide upon her verdict, and Rose held her breath again, this time careful not to squeeze Lissa's hand too hard. He hadn't denied any of the charges, but maybe the queen would decide it'd be too much of a scandal to imprison such an important royal. Maybe Victor had bought her off like he had his guardians. Maybe - but finally the queen announced a guilty verdict and sentenced him to life in prison. The stories Rose had heard about Moroi prisons made them sound like a terrible place, but Victor's amused look - the same one he'd worn yesterday - worried her. Somehow she didn't think he was going to accept this easily.
As his escort led him out of the courtroom, Victor paused in front of the princess and her entourage. It was only polite to say hello to family, after all. "Vasilisa, I trust you've been well."
Lissa didn't reply, choosing to look through him as if he wasn't there. She still hated him for everything he'd done and feared him for what he'd threatened her with, but with the guilty verdict, she finally felt like he couldn't hurt her anymore. It had been almost a year, but now she could finally move on.
"I'm sorry we didn't get the chance to talk, but I'm sure we will next time," Victor added before his guardians could lead him away. He was certain they would be meeting again.
"He's crazy," Lissa muttered to Rose as Victor disappeared through the courtroom doors. "I can't believe he said that stuff about you and Dimitri."
Rose took a breath, still surprised that no one had taken Victor's accusation seriously. She looked up, her eyes finding Dimitri almost instantly. Somehow they'd managed to get through it.
Standing behind Lissa, there was no avoiding meeting Rose's eyes right then. Dimitri didn't know how they'd both lied so successfully - or if it was even a good thing at the end of the day, but Victor was behind bars and Rose was safe from his threats. Looking into her gorgeous, dark eyes, he could have drowned in the pure affection he saw there.
She wished it was possible that they could stand together and tell the truth, and she was fairly certain he thought the same thing. But they'd already made their agreement, and for now, this time, they'd protected each other and won. A half-smile lifted her lips as Rose let him see just how much she wished she could hold him like Christian was holding Lissa just now.
Rose read him well, even with the mask concealing anything his face might attempt to betray as he looked at her, he lacked control over his eyes. Especially when it came to his feelings for her. Attempting to convey a promise of later for all the things he wanted to say and do, Dimitri nodded, risking a tiny smile that he hoped couldn't be taken by anyone else as anything more than a mentor showing pride for his student when someone else stepped in between them.
Of course Adrian's focus went immediately to Rose. He touched her arm, asking softly, You okay, little dhampir? Dashkov said a few... uh... suggestive things." And knowing some of the things he knew thanks to things like time paradoxes, he figured it was worth checking on her.
Her attention elsewhere, Rose jumped at touch. She was a great guardian really if she didn't even know who was close. She turned towards Adrian, taking a step closer. "I think it's fine," she said quietly. "No one believed him. Thanks for asking though."
Adrian smiled, even daring to reach out and tap her nose. "Two thank yous in as many days," he pointed out. "I don't suppose I'll get to see any, uh, special gratitude?"
Dimitri watched the exchange, wondering just when Adrian had become familiar with their situation and with Rose. He was considering interjecting when Alberta came up beside him, drawing Dimitri away to celebrate the victory with the other Academy guardians while they had some off-duty time.
Rose wrinkled her nose at the touch but didn't pull back. "No way. You'll just have to imagine it."
He responded by reaching to give her a sort of half-hug. He'd learned that asking wouldn't get him anywhere, he'd just go ahead and take it, letting her go quickly. "Fair enough. But I have a good imagination."
"You'd have to," Rose teased, giving him a little smile before moving to catch up with Lissa.
[NFI, NFB, whatever and ever amen, make AIM stop being a whore.]
Entering with Alberta and the other Academy guardians set to give witness, Dimitri listened to their small talk, participating only as required. His mind was otherwise occupied, still wondering if it had been the right choice to bring the students along as he saw Rose and Lissa arriving.
Rose had been woken up before her alarm by a knock on her door and a Moroi girl delivering a packet of clothes and a note. The clothes were black slacks, a cute white blouse, and a black jacket - the same clothes guardians wore at Court and formal occasions, and Rose couldn't help the grin that spread over her face. She was joining the team for real. The note just read Wear your hair up. It was in Dimitri's handwriting.
Even though Rose had assumed a closer to proper blank guardian demeanor, the thrill - and odd feeling like she'd dressed up her mom's clothes - of wearing the uniform for real was still with her an hour later as she followed Lissa into the courtroom.
Lissa had wanted to come to the trial, felt she had to be there to see Victor receive justice, but as she walked into the courtroom, she stopped suddenly, her heart pounding with fear at seeing the man she'd once called 'uncle' again. Her gaze fell upon the seal of her family, the Dragomir dragon, the King of the beasts. The full weight of what it meant to be the last of her family, the only one who could carry on their name hit her with a swirl of emotions. She was proud - so very proud of her name, but she almost feared that she wouldn't be able to live up to it.
At Rose's nudge, she moved forward again, sitting in the front of the courtroom to wait for the proceedings to begin.
If she was wearing the uniform, she could behave like any other guardian, and Rose surveyed the courtroom as they went towards their seats. Dimitri was already there, and the sight of him reassured her. "Look at the queen's throne there," Rose murmured to Lissa as they sat. The room wasn't nearly filled, and while there was a judge at the front of the courtroom, no jury was present. "Let's hope she's on our side. She's going to be the one making the decision."
Lissa frowned at the reminder. She knew that, of course, but - "Not having a jury or anything feels weird. Seems like there's too much room for corruption."
"Yeah. But this is Victor we're talking about," Rose scoffed, tensing as Victor himself came into the courtroom. She reached over to put her hand over Lissa's as she felt fear erupt in her friend. Fear and an odd bit of regret for loving the man that had betrayed her. "It's going to be okay. I promise."
The title of Prince may have been forcibly removed when he was imprisoned, but not even the Queen could strip him of his princely attitude as he entered the courtroom. Victor Dashkov scanned the room like he was at any other Moroi function; eyes searching for the most interesting person in the room. Today that person was Vasilisa, and Victor smiled and nodded when he caught her eye.
Rose's eyes narrowed as she watched Victor and his obvious lack of caring. She tried to be as serene as the other guardians, didn't want to give him the satisfaction of an obvious reaction, but the fury that rose in her at his arrogance boiled over when he gave Lissa a nod of greeting. As her control snapped, she felt Lissa's words in her mind - Breathe, Rose. Just breathe.
"Thanks," she said when Victor had taken his seat. "It's like you could read my mind."
Lissa smiled gently at Rose, barely keeping from wincing at the pain but unwilling to pull her hand away. "No, I could just feel your hand."
"Oh God," Rose said quickly, jerking her hand back and hoping she hadn't broken any fingers while she'd been clenching Lissa's hand in her own anger. "God, I'm sorry."
They stood then knelt then as Queen Tatiana entered the courtroom, and finally the trial began. One at a time, the witnesses took the stand to give their account of the night Lissa had been kidnapped. They were mostly guardians who'd followed Rose's directions to Victor's hideout then took part in the raid.
Dimitri was the last of the guardians to take the stand as a witness to the events of that evening. Dimitri had been a member of the rescue squad as well as the first guardian made aware of the situation, so his story had begun a little earlier. "I was with my student, Rose Hathaway," he said. "She shares a bond with the princess and was the first to sense what had happened."
Victor's lawyer glanced at his notes before responding, drawing out the time as lawyers tended to do. "Based on the events, it sounds like there was a delay between when she discovered that and when you alerted the others."
Dimitri nodded, his mask of composure not slipping. "She couldn't act on what she knew because Mr. Dashkov had inflicted a charm on her, one that caused her to attack me." Saying those words, lying under oath about the lust charm very nearly broke his heart, but he did what needed to be done to protect Rose.
"Mr. Dashkov works with earth magic, and some who use that power and are strong in compulsion can influence our base instincts," Dimitri continued, the words coming out evenly despite his inner turmoil. "In this case, he affected her anger and violence through an object."
Watching Dimitri give his testimony, Rose almost couldn't believe that she was the only one to see how much it was hurting Dimitri to lie. He was doing it to protect them - to protect her especially - and while they'd agreed it was necessary, she hated to see him nearly break himself by lying under oath. If she'd considered it, she would have been more careful about the look in her eyes as she watched him, but everyone's focus was on Dimitri, and no one could see the utter love and worry she had for the man on the witness stand.
At that point, Victor choked back a loud, mocking laugh until the judge silenced him. "I'm terribly sorry, Your Honor and Your Majesty. Something in Guardian Belikov's testimony just tickled my fancy, that's all. It won't happen again."
Following Dimitri's testimony, Christian had been called to give his and identify Lissa's kidnappers as Victor's guardians, but then it was Rose's turn, and she just hoped she had that calm guardian mask as she took the oath to tell the truth. Something of what Dimitri must have felt washed over her, as she realised she was swearing in front of everyone to tell the truth when she was planning to lie as soon as anything about the lust charm was mentioned.
She gave her version of events, everything lining up with what the other guardians had said then easing into the story about the charm carefully. No one seemed to notice her lie just like no one had noticed Dimitri's - except for Victor who was smirking just a little when she accidentally glanced his way.
The look on his face made Rose work to keep her face blank and her words flowing. It wasn't just that Victor knew she was lying; it was that he could ruin her and Dimitri just by telling the truth of what had happened that night. She knew it'd reflect badly on her, but more importantly Dimitri could end up losing his position or even end up on trial himself. Rose glared at Victor, more determined to protect Dimitri and Lissa and see him in jail forever.
As her name was called, Lissa made her way to the front, sitting in the witness chair. She stayed calm and outwardly serene as she offered the courtroom the first new information of the day. She could feel the audience hang on every carefully chosen word even as internally she experienced the pain and anguish of Victor and his associate's torture again.
Lissa refused to look at the man she'd once called her uncle, focusing instead on the faces in the crowd she knew were with her - Rose, her expression so worried that Lissa tried to send her reassurance again; Christian who was always there and steady, his eyes full of love; Guardian Belikov with concern filtering through his stern guardian appearance. Between their support and Lissa's own determination to be worthy of her family's name, she made it through her testimony, never once giving away the torment she'd felt at reliving that terrible night.
Relief overwhelmed her as she was dismissed, and she took her seat next to Rose again, her hand the only part of her that trembled as she reached to take Rose's.
At last Victor had his chance to speak. They always did save the best for last. He lounged in the chair on the stand, smiling at the audience like he wasn't on trial even as they asked him the same, dull questions they'd been asking people all morning long. Finally they got to why he'd kidnapped Vasilisa. "Why, I had no choice," he said pleasantly. "I was dying. No one was going to condone me openly experimenting with the princess's powers. What would you have done in my place?"
Of course the lawyer didn't want to answer his questions and she simply asked more. "And you found coaxing your own daughter into turning Strigoi also necessary?"
Dimitri was one of the few in the audience not to shift uncomfortably at the mention of Natalie purposefully killing one of her own teachers and draining him of his blood so she could become strong and fast enough to free her father. As the one who had planted his silver stake in that new Strigoi's heart, Dimitri had his own take on the situation; and there was no sympathy for Victor involved.
Victor knew this audience couldn't possibly understand what he'd gone through when Natalie had been killed. He answered simply, showing no remorse because it wasn't his fault she was now lost to him. "Natalie made that decision."
"Can you say that about everyone you used to meet your ends? Guardian Belikov and Miss Hathaway had no say in what you made them do." The lawyer speaking was only doing her job, but the question had Dimitri steeling himself in anticipation.
Victor chuckled. "Well, that's a matter of opinion. I honestly don't think they minded. But if you have time after this case, Your Honor, you might want to consider trying a statutory rape case." The appalled looks were so worth it.
Rose had frozen as Victor had done it. He'd made good on his threat and - suddenly she realised that no one in the courtroom believed him. Even Lissa was horrified that he would stoop so low as to make up stories about her and Dimitri. She relaxed slightly, not daring to glance over towards Dimitri to see his reaction.
Considering their talk in the prison, Dimitri was almost surprised Victor had bothered going there. No one would believe a psychopath, and it was clear as Dimitri glanced around the room that no one did. He didn't chance looking toward Rose, but he knew she was feeling as relieved as he was feeling guilty.
After Victor's testimony, it was time for the queen to decide upon her verdict, and Rose held her breath again, this time careful not to squeeze Lissa's hand too hard. He hadn't denied any of the charges, but maybe the queen would decide it'd be too much of a scandal to imprison such an important royal. Maybe Victor had bought her off like he had his guardians. Maybe - but finally the queen announced a guilty verdict and sentenced him to life in prison. The stories Rose had heard about Moroi prisons made them sound like a terrible place, but Victor's amused look - the same one he'd worn yesterday - worried her. Somehow she didn't think he was going to accept this easily.
As his escort led him out of the courtroom, Victor paused in front of the princess and her entourage. It was only polite to say hello to family, after all. "Vasilisa, I trust you've been well."
Lissa didn't reply, choosing to look through him as if he wasn't there. She still hated him for everything he'd done and feared him for what he'd threatened her with, but with the guilty verdict, she finally felt like he couldn't hurt her anymore. It had been almost a year, but now she could finally move on.
"I'm sorry we didn't get the chance to talk, but I'm sure we will next time," Victor added before his guardians could lead him away. He was certain they would be meeting again.
"He's crazy," Lissa muttered to Rose as Victor disappeared through the courtroom doors. "I can't believe he said that stuff about you and Dimitri."
Rose took a breath, still surprised that no one had taken Victor's accusation seriously. She looked up, her eyes finding Dimitri almost instantly. Somehow they'd managed to get through it.
Standing behind Lissa, there was no avoiding meeting Rose's eyes right then. Dimitri didn't know how they'd both lied so successfully - or if it was even a good thing at the end of the day, but Victor was behind bars and Rose was safe from his threats. Looking into her gorgeous, dark eyes, he could have drowned in the pure affection he saw there.
She wished it was possible that they could stand together and tell the truth, and she was fairly certain he thought the same thing. But they'd already made their agreement, and for now, this time, they'd protected each other and won. A half-smile lifted her lips as Rose let him see just how much she wished she could hold him like Christian was holding Lissa just now.
Rose read him well, even with the mask concealing anything his face might attempt to betray as he looked at her, he lacked control over his eyes. Especially when it came to his feelings for her. Attempting to convey a promise of later for all the things he wanted to say and do, Dimitri nodded, risking a tiny smile that he hoped couldn't be taken by anyone else as anything more than a mentor showing pride for his student when someone else stepped in between them.
Of course Adrian's focus went immediately to Rose. He touched her arm, asking softly, You okay, little dhampir? Dashkov said a few... uh... suggestive things." And knowing some of the things he knew thanks to things like time paradoxes, he figured it was worth checking on her.
Her attention elsewhere, Rose jumped at touch. She was a great guardian really if she didn't even know who was close. She turned towards Adrian, taking a step closer. "I think it's fine," she said quietly. "No one believed him. Thanks for asking though."
Adrian smiled, even daring to reach out and tap her nose. "Two thank yous in as many days," he pointed out. "I don't suppose I'll get to see any, uh, special gratitude?"
Dimitri watched the exchange, wondering just when Adrian had become familiar with their situation and with Rose. He was considering interjecting when Alberta came up beside him, drawing Dimitri away to celebrate the victory with the other Academy guardians while they had some off-duty time.
Rose wrinkled her nose at the touch but didn't pull back. "No way. You'll just have to imagine it."
He responded by reaching to give her a sort of half-hug. He'd learned that asking wouldn't get him anywhere, he'd just go ahead and take it, letting her go quickly. "Fair enough. But I have a good imagination."
"You'd have to," Rose teased, giving him a little smile before moving to catch up with Lissa.
[NFI, NFB, whatever and ever amen, make AIM stop being a whore.]