Altair - Marian Tee Page 0,47
the kingdom to its knees.
Chapter Twenty
Arraignments made on the grounds of political treason were a uniquely grueling process in the kingdom of Ramil. Unlike other nations, Ramilian laws were such that the king and the other sheikhs were duty-bound to establish logistics for a maximum-security transfer of Tamara to the nearest courthouse, appoint a nonpartisan counsel for the accused, and submit verifiable and well-documented evidence of the defendant's wrongdoing. More importantly, the royal family was expected to perform all of these...within a set number of hours from the moment the defendant was taken into custody and read her rights.
Not only was the process physically and mentally taxing, but the fact that Tamara was their blood - she was Tarif's own mother, for fuck's sake - weighed heavily on all of the sheikhs. While there was no love lost between the older woman and the sheikhs, her betrayal still cut deep, and her presence an undesirable reminder of some of their worst memories.
Of the five of them, Tarif had been the only unlucky bastard to be cursed with a bitch for a parent, and even now Altair had a hard time believing that his own mother and Tamara were sisters. The two women were different as day and night, and Altair could still remember how painful it had been for him and the others to see Tamara's cruel treatment of her own son.
To say that Tarif's relationship with his mother had been traumatic and toxic would be a gross understatement, and in truth Altair was privately surprised but immensely relieved to see how well the other man was coping under the circumstances.
Minutes dragged into hours, and the only reason the sheikh was able to keep himself from calling and checking in on Safiya was because of the GPS tracker he had installed in the necklace he had given her. It showed that she was still in the palace, and it was enough for him for now to know that she remained safe in his home. They had much to talk about. Too goddamn much for a simple phone conversation. Too fucking much for him to beg her forgiveness, especially when he thought of the countless times he had questioned her loyalty and distanced himself from her—-
It shamed him.
Yara had told him from the very start that Safiya was different.
That she was nice.
And with hindsight, he knew now that he had seen the same thing Yara did.
One moment in her presence, and he had known she was an earthbound angel.
But because the past had turned him into a fucking coward, he had deliberately blinded himself to all that was good about her, and it was ironic that 53, of all people, had been the one to make him realize this.
With how 53 had kept trying to force his hand, doing everything she possibly could to make him denounce the princess—-
Things that Safiya would never have done even if their situations had been reversed and she was the one whose feelings he had spurned—-
It was the moment he had realized that among the three of them—-
It was Safiya who was good and honorable.
Not him, even with all the wars he had fought.
Not 53, even with all the service she had done for the crown.
But Safiya.
She was the only one among them who had never lied.
The only one who had always been nice.
And tonight, he would bare his heart to her. Tell her the entire truth and fucking hope that she would give him a chance to love her back.
IT WAS NEARLY MIDNIGHT by the time Altair and the other sheikhs had arrived back at the palace. None of them had spoken in the ride back home, but as the five men walked into the throne room, it was then and only then that they all suddenly stopped and looked at each other—-
Then and only then did the shock seem to finally wear off, and they realized that it was truly over.
No more enemies hiding in the dark.
No more betrayals.
It was truly over, and for just one moment, the five men simply looked at each other...until Khalil finally broke the silence, saying simply, "Shukrahn." Thank you.
Because once upon a time, he had been nothing but the illegitimate son of a king, and his brothers were boys whom the world ridiculed for swearing fealty to a prince believed to be unfit and incapable of taking the Ramilian throne.
And yet...
Here they were now, and Khalil was not the only one whose eyes were suspiciously bright as