Turning Tables

Chapter 10

Rose

I felt the back of my head, it wasn't bleeding anymore and I wasn't passing out, but I still had a killer headache.

I wanted to lie down and take a nap, but Mia told me I couldn't. If I had a concussion I needed to stay awake. But just lying in a bed, doing nothing, really wasn't my strong suit. So I did the only thing I could do. I visited Lissa.

She was sitting in her parlor with Christian and Tasha. They had been staying close to her since my departure and her announcement to run for Queen. She had a cup of tea in her hands that was supposed to be soothing. Ever since she had been elected a candidate, Lissa was very stressed.

I felt a bit guilty about that, but it wasn't like I wanted her to be Queen, I just needed to stall for time.

But she was gathering support and fast. Even now I could see a couple of people with banners outside her window, claiming the dragon had returned. It was causing confusion and uproar which is exactly what we needed, but Lissa felt the weight of her name. Even if she wouldn't be Queen, hopefully she would still be on the council and people are going to expect great things from her.

A quick probe of the bond told me her inferiority complex and stress might be a bit amplified with spirit, so I took a little bit, alleviate some of the pressure from Lissa. Once I was done, she could breathe a little easier.

She was about to take a sip of her tea when the front door opened and Adrian stormed in.

I took him in through Lissa's eyes. Probing her memory a bit, I learned Adrian had been rather drunk these last few days. Now he seemed sober - disheveled- but sober.

"They took her." He announced.

Lissa and Christian looked at each other confused. Tasha broke the silence first. "Who?"

Adrian landed in a chair - well, flung his body in one- and ran his hands through his hair a few times, first out of frustration, then to get it back into style and then out of frustration again, because he shouldn't be worried about his hair at a time like this even though it was a automatic response.

"My mother, they took her in for questioning."

Lissa and Christian looked at each other again, still very confused. "Your mother? what for?" Lissa asked.

"For Tatiana's murder." Adrian repositioned himself, took a few breaths and told them the story of how guardians had come into his house and not so kindly requested his mother to come to headquarters.

"Apparently they looked through Tatiana's things and found a letter my mother wrote...she basically threatened Tatiana."

He got up. He started to wave his hands in the air. "But my mother would never hurt Tatiana. the letter was completely out of context and now she is a murder suspect."

Lissa walked over to Adrian. She placed her hand on his arm, trying to comfort him. She sent a very small amount of spirit through him. He was so upset he didn't even notice, but he did calm damn a tiny bit.

"What was in the letter, Adrian?" Christian asked.

Adrian sat down again with Lissa next to him. "My mother was part of Tatiana's trial to teach Moroi how to fight. She wasn't very happy about that, but aunt Tati kind of ordered her."

"What?" This came from Tasha, who looked ashen. "Tatiana started a trial?"

Adrian nodded. "She was performing an experiment in secret, to see if Moroi could indeed learn how to fight. She had a couple of Moroi from different walks of life, my mother represented the royal Moroi, I guess."