Does Love Really Fade? {Vampire Academy}

Settling

Not dead. Just been very stressed for... Obvious reasons. But as of right now, I have no school, no job, and a nest of pillows and blankets. Could be worse. 

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I wasn't that far off when I said the Queen would want to parade Jill around right away. Jill had been subjected to some swabs, which were immediately expedited to confirm paternity. It didn't take long for it to be confirmed that Jill was a Dragomir. After that, she was dolled up a little before Tatiana sent for all the members of the council. As the highest-ranking Moroi, they'd be told about Jill first.

Dimitri and I sat in the council chambers with Jill's parents in silence. Sonya had been whisked away almost immediately to ensure she was completely Moroi (which Dimitri objected to, but Sonya had been willing to cooperate) and Mikhail had, of course, gone with her. It wasn't until Jill came in that anyone moved. Her jeans and t-shirt had been replaced with a pencil skirt and blouse, and her hair had been tamed.

She looked the part of a royal. She held her head high, and her walk was remarkably poised for how clumsy she is. Even so, I could tell she was nervous. She smiled toward Dimitri and me before talking her seat between her parents. When the meeting began and Tatiana revealed who she was, she'd take a seat beside Lissa and give her her vote.

It didn't take long for council members to start walking in. Everyone looked surprised to see other people already in the chambers. Tarus seemed especially displeased to see me in the room. Lissa walked in last since she'd been trying to steady herself since the Queen sent for her. We locked eyes as she sat down, and I continued giving her as reassuring a look as I could as Tatiana started the meeting.

"I hereby call this meeting to order." There were murmurs of assent as she continued, "As today is not a scheduled meeting, most of you are unaware of the reason for this meeting."

She glanced at Lissa, who nodded almost imperceptively.

"It came to my attention some time ago that Vasilisa is not, as previously believed, the last remaining Dragomir." There were some shocked looks, and most of the council members looked at Lissa before settling on the only Moroi in the room who was younger than her.

The Queen ignored this and continued on, "With this knowledge, I entrusted a group of dhampirs to find and retrieve the lost Dragomir and bring them here."

This time, their eyes turned to Dimitri and me, and Tarus found his voice for a moment, "Your Majesty, even assuming you didn't receive false information, why those two?"

Tatiana turned her icy gaze on him, "Do you mean to suggest I didn't thoroughly investigate the validity of such an accusation before acting on it? As for my choice in who to trust, Ms. Hathaway is perhaps the only person in Court who has no loyalties to anyone besides Princess Dragomir. She had the choice of who else accompanied her."

If I hadn't been so focused on keeping a mask on, I might have preened at that. Especially since Tarus seemed thoroughly put in his place.

"Ms. Hathaway, along with Guardian Tanner and Guardian Belikov, discovered the identity of this lost Dragomir and brought her to Court. Her identity has been confirmed through a DNA test." She held out her arm, the signal for Jill to step forward.

I could sense the nerves coming off of her from across the room, but she kept her composure, curtseying before taking her place between Lissa and the Queen. She took a deep breath before reciting what Tatiana had given her, "My name is Jillian Mastrano Dragomir. I am the daughter of Eric Dragomir. Our family has our quorum, and my sister has her rights."

It took several moments for the gravity to set in, but then Ariana Szelsky bowed her head, "Lady Dragomir, it is a pleasure to have your acquaintance."