Amelia sat in the court room beside Prince Phil, fidgeting in her tight blue dress. Her eyes were red and slightly swollen, both from crying and from lack of sleep. She hadn't been able to get any sleep that night because of her terrible thoughts of what would happen if Zelgadis were found guilty. If he was, that wouldn't be justice. It wouldn't be truth. It would be the antithesis of everything she'd grown up learning. She prayed that they'd say Zelgadis was innocent, both for his sake and hers. She didn't know what it'd do to her if she saw Seyruun defying truth and justice.

The audience rose up in whispers as the guards came in, each of them holding tightly onto one of Zelgadis's arms. It was wasted effort, because Zelgadis wasn't protesting to their direction. He walked along with them at a steady pace, and sat down at the witness's stand right across from where Amelia and Phil were sitting.

Amelia's eyes locked on Zelgadis's for a moment, before the interrogator stepped up in front of Zelgadis.

"Please state your name for the court," the interrogator said.

"Zelgadis Greywords," Zelgadis answered.

"Zelgadis, do you know Princess Amelia personally?"

"Yes," Zelgadis said, nodding. "We were traveling together along with Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev for several years."

At the sound of the name "Lina Inverse," whispers rose up again.

When the voices died down, the interrogator asked, "Zelgadis, where and when did you meet up with the Princess recently?"

"In the forest yesterday," Zelgadis said.

"Did she say why she was there?"

"She told me she had run away from the palace, got kidnapped by a gang, escaped, and then went into hiding, trying to find her way back home," Zelgadis answered dully.

"Did she say why she wanted to run away?"

Nodding, Zelgadis said, "She told me she felt trapped in the palace and needed to be free for a while."

"We found this on your person," the interrogator said, holding up Amelia's bracelet. "Can you explain it?"

Zelgadis fidgeted a little, and said, "She gave it to me when we parted last. It was to remember her by."

"Hmm..." Frowning, the interrogator started to pace. "Who did you say she was kidnapped by again?"

"A gang, I don't know which one."

"Were you a part of the gang that kidnapped her?"

"No!" Zelgadis said vehemently.

"Did Amelia indeed run away, or did you kidnap her?"

"She ran away!"

"Are you telling us the truth?"

"Yes!"

"Did you have any intentions of kidnapping her?"

"No!"

"Did you think about kidnapping her once you met up in the forest?"

"No!"

"Did you ever think about harming her?"

"NO!"

"Have you ever in your entire life thought about hurting her?"

"NO!"

"You've never considered, even once, that hurting her would be a good idea?"

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU NO!?!?" Zelgadis demanded.

"We must be absolutely certain you had no hidden motives!"

"I LOVE HER, DAMMIT!! I WOULDN'T HURT HER!!!" Zelgadis shouted at the top of his lungs.

A hush fell over the court room at that statement. Amelia's breath caught in her throat, and tears stung the corners of her eyes. Zelgadis suddenly became away of what he said, and blushed brightly. As abruptly as the room had gone silent, it rose up in whispers and shouts.

"SILENCE!!" Phil shouted in his booming voice. Instantly, everyone was quiet. Phil then said loudly, "We will adjourn for a half hour while we... um... sort through this new information. Everyone who wishes to, and all the jury, please report back here in three hours." With that, Phil left his place and hurried off somewhere.

All Amelia could do was stare in shock at Zelgadis. Guards were coming up to him again, no doubt to take him off to the dungeon. He'd said he loved her. How long had he known and not told her? Did he know she felt much the same? Well, if he didn't, she'd change that. Across the room, Zelgadis was being hauled away, purposely avoiding looking at her. Resolutely, Amelia stood up and left the court room.