Guilty (Ch.25)

"Uhmm...is anyone going to say anything anytime soon?" Chantria asked in a blank tone, already running out of patience.

For the past ten minutes since they had been sitting in a receiving hall, Prince Dewei's cross glare had been fixed on Amir Naeem who had chosen to seat closest to Chantria.

The other two seemed accustomed to the sight and just remained quiet, however the tension in the hall was almost through the roof.

It had begun from the moment Amir took a seat beside Chantria and Prince Dewei had nearly attacked him again.

Chantria could see Prince Dewei truly harbored intense dislike for Amir Naeem and she did not know what to think of it considering she herself was not particularly clear on the events that had happened leading up to this moment.

Amir Naeem had been accused of attempting to murder her, that was the only thing she knew for sure.

"Where are Kahlel and Jai?" Prince Dewei asked first.

Chantria assumed he spoke off the other two men she was supposedly bonded to but had not seen for most of the day.

"They will be here soon, I already sent for them." Zevon replied in place of Chantria who had absolutely no idea where the other two were.

"Then we wait. I wish to see all of you." Prince Dewei said, passing Chantria a reassuring look.

It took only a short while longer, and just when the tension was about to reach the roof, Kahlel and Jai arrived.

"You sure took your time." Prince Dewei said to the two who strode in side by side.

Chantria had seen these two before but again, she could not help a moment of awe, however it wore off quickly enough.

At one glance, Chantria could already tell who was Kahlel and who was Jai, though she was not sure why she could, it was just another thing she knew without needing to ask.

"Your Grace." Kahlel greeted with a small bow, a few strands of his golden tresses falling over his face.

Jai however did not say a single word and strode over to take a sit like he could not care to be in this room, Jai's actions incited an angered growl from Dewei.

"Let him be... just get to it." Chantria interrupted before Dewei could say anything.

Chantria admitted right from the first moment, she could sense a strange animosity from Jai and those violet orbs of his were too cold and unreadable for her to figure out why.

"You all blame Chantria for acting on her own personal desires, yet you know nothing of her personality..."

"Now that it has come to this, you would have her protect Amir without knowing what she is getting into." Prince Dewei began as he moved his gaze to Chantria.

"I am certain they must have failed to mention that Amir Naeem is rightfully convicted of the crime of your murder, Chan."

" Your family has mourned you for seven days...seven days! Do you know how father has pulled through in these days?" Prince Dewei asked in a pained tone.

Chantria's heart dropped without her control at the mention of her father and from that alone, Chantria guessed she must have had a really close relationship with him.

"Only with the will to get you justice and now, before the eyes of thousands of people, you have failed father's will by saving him." Prince Dewei said, pointing accusingly at Amir.

"I..." Chantria began to say but trailed off, she was not certain what to say.

Regardless of anything, she could not even imagine what it must have been like for Saint Chantria's family in these days.

Chantria's knew well enough what it meant to have an infidel as family, her father back where she came from had been one too, but Chantria did not think she could cope with his death.

Whatever he had been and as much as she detested him for what he had done to her mother, Chantria still loved him dearly.

Chantria guessed it was the same for Saint Chantria's family, to the world, Saint Chantria might not have been any good but her family would be deeply hurt by her loss, notwithstanding.

Chantria passed a glance around the table and all five of her bonded lovers were quiet, which meant they could not refute Prince Dewei's words.

"Amir made a mistake, Your Highness. A mistake he is regretful for...but taking his life..." Irvine reasoned in a pleading tone.

"Father entreated the Emperor to give Amir the highest punishment, I carried out the investigation myself...if Amir Naeem is worth saving or not, you decide after you know what truly happened." Prince Dewei said to Chantria.

"Your Highness, I know you have come here bearing the Saint's best interest in mind..." Zevon began to reason but Prince Dewei cut him off.

"Tell her yourself Amir...you tell her or I will." Prince Dewei threatened.

"I... I procured a potion from a peddling witch...it was meant to be a violet decoction..." Amir stuttered out.

"An aphrodisiac." Prince Dewei explained when Chantria passed him a questioning glance.

Chantria frowned slightly, Amir Naeem had intended to feed her an aphrodisiac? That in itself was just wrong.

"I... I just wanted you to love me Chan, like I love you... I didn't know the potion was swapped out for a Night's Whisper." Amir sobbed out, reaching out to grab Chantria's wrist.

Chantria blinked in astonishment, the Amir Naeem she had been trying to save all this while was truly guilty of his crime and could truly have killed her.

Even if he didn't, feeding her an aphrodisiac against her will was completely immoral.

"I would never wish to harm you Channy, I swear it... I know it was wrong of me but I just... you were going to dissolve the harem and I thought if the union was consummated, you wouldn't be able to send us away." Amir explained desperately.

Chantria passed Amir a look at his words, a sense of disappointment settling deep in the pit of her stomach.