INSEPARABLE II

LIV

"Lady Chand is guilty of royal treason, assisted abduction, and multiple charges of attempted murder." Prem announced at last.

Chand squeezed shut her eyes and angled her face down. The truth had made it to Prem after all.

"Those are very serious allegations, Chief." Noor finally spoke up.

"I am aware of how serious they are, Your Highness,"Prem responded, "that's why I come with witnesses." He then nodded at the guards positioned next to the main doors of the courtroom. They opened the doors and Hakam led in two bloodied men.

Brought to the front of the room, the men dropped to their knees. Chand slowly angled her praying face to get a look at the men. Sure enough, it was the two men she had paid for five years to keep quiet about her crime.

"Who are these men?" Noor questioned.

Prem looked at the terrified man he had caught in the garden last night. "Speak." He ordered.

"Your Highness," the man immediately folded his hands before Noor. "I.." he stared at the ground mustering the courage to go on.

Hakam grabbed the man's neck from behind, "speak!" He instructed.

"I will." The man fearfully concurred and Hakam released his hold. "Your Highness, we were serving the royal palace in the capital during the war," the man began. "The wing you were residing in when you gave birth was under our supervision. On the night..." the man hesitated yet again, "...when...Prince Zorawar was kidnapped...we happened to be nearby picking up somethings in the hallway..."

Zorawar's name out of the man's mouth captured Noor's attention unlike anything else. Her heart pounded in her chest as she listened on.

"When Lord Darshan grabbed the newborn Prince and exited your chambers, he was actually stopped by a couple of guards. They demanded he put down the basket in which laid the sleeping Prince and insisted he let them frisk it. Naturally, he refused. The guards sensed something was wrong and had even drawn their swords. They would have never let him leave if Lady Chand didn't appear in his support. She stepped out of your chambers behind him and said he was only taking out the old fruits laying in the chambers and had the guards immediately drop their questioning. The guards let him go. It was later discovered that he had kidnapped the Prince." The man revealed. "I swear on my life, Your Highness, we had no clue in that moment that the Prince was with him. We would have never let him cross the threshold of our wing if we knew. We only connected the dots later when the news of the kidnapping spread. The only thing we are guilty of is blackmail and Lady Chand tried to kill us for that but we survived. Please forgive us, Your Highness."

The entire courtroom stared on, dumbfounded.

To say Noor was at a loss words would be an understatement. Noor...was at a loss of thoughts. She knew Chand hated her but to think that she was capable of harming a newborn out of that hate was simply unbelievable.

"Is this true?" She questioned Chand at once.

Chand did not respond.

"Is it true?!" Noor thundered, almost startling her. "Did you conspire with the kidnapper of my son?"

"I did not." Chand slowly stated.

"Don't you dare to lie!" Noor warned her furiously.

"I'm telling the truth. I happened to be passing by your chambers when I figured I'd peak in and see if they were serious about your condition. I did not conspire with Darshan, I just walked in on him placing your newborn son into a basket. When I asked him what the hell he was doing, he said he was taking away the heir of Basher. The chances of your survival were already low, and if he took your son away, Basher would be left without an heir. He was planning on becoming a hero in the war and thought he could take the throne after you. I asked him what he would do your son, he promised he would have him raised well. He said his intent was only to keep him away from royalty, he would never harm him. In that moment..." Chand paused to sigh, "I thought it might be my last ever chance at a life with Prem. I knew that child would only strengthen your relationship, so...I..."