Shadow Rider (Vampire Academy Fanfic)

Chapter 44 - Rose

The Courtroom was gradually filling with people. 

Lissa stood at the podium, with Christian on her right side, and Casimir on the left. The royal family representatives sat on thrones on either side of her. And behind them all stood Dimitri and I, and the rest of the Royal Guard.

I gazed out at the gathering crowd, searching for familiar faces. At the front I saw Sonya and Mikhail sitting together and holding hands. Mikhail nodded at me, and Sonya smiled serenely. Further back, I noticed mom. She was standing with her Moroi family, her arms crossed, her face concentrated. Abe stood next to her. He looked outwardly relaxed, but I could sense the tension in his shoulders, and the focused look in his dark eyes. Close by, Mia and Ambrose were sitting close together. Mia looked triumphant - she wanted war, anyone could tell.

But something about my parents worried me. They weren't triumphant, or calm like Sonya and Mikhail. They were worried. It wasn't obvious, but I could still tell.

Yes, Liss was going to announce war on the Strigoi. But it became evident to me that the announcement wouldn't go down in hurrahs. I shot a sideways glance at Dimitri. He sensed it, and looked back. I searched his eyes, communicating my fears to him. Dimitri gave a tiny nod. He was aware of the danger, though his body revealed none of his inner tension.

Well, we had discussed this with Lissa. She was sure about what she wanted - she was sure this was the best course of action for her people. Nobody said it would be easy - Lissa sure as hell wouldn't promise it would be. It simply had to be done. She knew that, I knew that. Most of us knew that. But not everybody did.

When the Courtroom was full, Lissa called for silence. The room quieted instantly.

Lissa took a deep breath. I could almost see spirit filling her, squaring her, strengthening her. Filled with her empowering element, she spoke.

'People of the Moroi Court,' she began, 'ever since I became Queen, I have had one goal, one wish, for all of us - to stand united. In the growing face of the Strigoi menace...no matter our differences, we all have one thing in common.' She searched the faces of the crowd. 'We are alive. We have a soul. We have choice. And our freedom, our lives, they have always been threatened by the Strigoi. We have always stayed together, as we should but...' she gestured around the room. 'Is this what we deserve? To be holed up inside our magical wards, to be afraid of what is lurking outside? Are we going to allow ourselves to be controlled by fear?

'The Strigoi have committed countless offenses against us, and as your Queen, I cannot bear to see them picking us off one by one, destroying our Royal Families, taking away from us the little freedom we have left - the space we occupy in this world!

'As your Queen, I have always strived to be fair, to be righteous, to ensure you are free to choose as you please! I gave you the choice - to choose whether you wanted to be apart of the advance magical program, to choose whether you wanted to be a part of the advance guardian program. You chose. And we are now stronger than ever! I look upon you and I no longer see fear. I see bravery.

'I gave you another choice. I put it up for a vote. I asked you if you wanted a War Chief, and you did, and you chose. You chose Casimir Andrijevic. Together with him and the royal representatives, we have decided on one course of action. The only course of action we can take if we want to preserve our freedom, our morality, and our newfound bravery. We cannot grant the Strigoi another victory against us. They know how to attack our Court, and be sure, they will do it again. So I say we bring the fight to them! We defend ourselves, and our values, and rid ourselves of this evil, once and for all.

'Of course, we won't destroy them for good. As long as there is evil intention in a Moroi, the Strigoi race will exist. We have to accept it. But we also have to control it. We have to take responsibility for what our own greed has created. We have to keep battling it every day of our lives, to keep it sustained, to keep us in charge.'