"Halan, congratulations." Kietnan gave her a nod as he walked over to join the rest of the group to stand beside Ashima.

Kahal nodded at his sister in law but remained where he stood, watching the group before him. They were all standing in the hall just outside of Halan's office space. His four brothers, Thuq, three females they all have come to care for, three guards, and Rahn, who seemed to blend in seamlessly. He admired her skills yet again.

Then a thought occurred to him. What if the group's intentions were never to assassinate the premier. What if that part was only Zein's plan and the group had just provided him with the means to lay out his plan simply because they wanted chaos to erupt so they could fulfill some other motive?

He felt like his skin was beginning to crawl. They wouldn't all need to be together for that. In fact, it would be much easier while they were separate. Security is much easier to bypass when all the main players are separate and moving about. He glanced around each of the people before him again. Four princes all together, and loved ones. Only three guards and in a hallway far away from reinforcements.

And where were the other members of the premier? He had given their security details two options for after the performance. Gather in his parents entertaining room to discuss the performance and any other matters they felt necessary while gathered together. Or retire to their individual guest dwellings. They would all almost certainly be in his parents' entertaining room, surrounded by much more security than what his current group had. He felt like an idiot.

His eyes landed on Rahn, who was returning his stare. He noticed she had taken a few steps away. Had she had the same thought as him? Or did she know something? Perhaps something had clicked into place for her? Or maybe she just knew he had suddenly gotten tense.

He raised a brow in question.

She began slowly looking around, as if not trying to draw attention to herself but also trying to canvas the area. A large crash sounded from somewhere down the hallway and they all turned. Kietnan heard gasps and murmurs from the group that was now behind him.

"Go check it out." He informed the guards, who quickly departed. "Halan, how about you give our guests a tour of your office?"

"Hmm?" Then her eyes rounded in understanding. "Oh! Yes, please come in."

The party quickly entered Halan's office, Rahn positioned herself close to the females while Kietnan and Kahal made sure they were the last to enter. He was thankful for how spacious her office was.

"This area is where I can have performers come in and we can fiddle with costumes, smaller props, or work through some music. Any time I don't want to go out to the larger departments, I can have a handful of individuals in here so we can tinker with our projects. It saves time. And it's more comfortable for the times where it seems we spend hours trying to get something just right."

"Smart." Ashima commented. "I will admit, those couches do look comfy."

"They are." Halan chuckled. "I've slept on them a time or two." Everyone laughed when Joreth scoffed and crossed his arms. "It is a good thing my life partner is so understanding of how demanding my work can be at times." She winked at her partner and Kahal couldn't help but enjoy the warmth that was shown on his brother's face. He loved Joreth, but warmth and love weren't often things he showed outwardly.

Halan turned and opened a door on the other side of the room, revealing a smaller space. "And this is my actual office. I don't spend much time at my desk when I can help it. I did moreso for this production, however, because a certain soon to be king likes for me to have all of my paperwork and script approvals in order." She sighed and everyone chuckled while Kahal shrugged a shoulder while standing in the doorway where he could keep one eye on the now closed door to her larger space.

The guards hadn't returned. That wasn't good.

"Halan, tell us about the process of taking this real life story and turning it into a production. What was the first step?" Kietnan asked his sister in law, likely just trying to keep her talking while also taking eyes away from Kahal.

"Yes!" She clasped her hands in front of her in excitement. "Well, I had bits and pieces of the story, just like everyone else, but I needed the full thing. So naturally I had to hear it firsthand. I took notes upon notes, it's practically a written book at this point. Oh!" She stopped as if a lightbulb went off above her head, grabbing Ashima's shoulders in excitement. "A book! You must publish a book! We can-"

"Love." Joreth said gently.

"Oh." Halan glanced around the room as if she just remembered everyone was still there listening to her. She turned back to Ashima. "We'll discuss the book later, yes?"

Ashima nodded with a giggle.

"Right. So then we picked apart the story to figure out which pieces..."

Kahal stopped listening as Halan kept everyone occupied.

"They haven't returned." Kietnan whispered from beside him.

He nodded as he stared at the doorway. "I don't like this."

"Agreed. We're basically trapped in here."

Kahal turned and managed to get Othen's attention, who discreetly made his way to them. He noticed Joreth do the same.

"Is there another way in or out of here?" Kahal asked.

"Yes, there's a hatch that leads down to the inner workings of the stage. It's there as an emergency exit for anyone working down there, even though we're on the very edge of it." Othen offered.

"There are several other exits once you're down there." Joreth added.

"Which is closest to the exit to be out of the theater wing all together?"

"Head to the north wall and then follow it west. When you come to a corner, there's an exit hatch there. It comes out right beside an emergency exit, into the hallway near the facilities."

Kahal and Kietnan both nodded.

"Do you think we need to use it?" Othen asked.

"I hope not." Kahal answered.

Joreth returned to his partner's side, offering her a reassuring smile. Kietnan returned to Ashima's side, where she wrapped her small arms around his forearm. Kahal wasn't sure he'd ever get used to her public physical displays of affection.

He turned and noticed Othen standing directly behind Biechta, leaning against a side table with his arms crossed, tapping his finger on his upper arm. Rahn and Thuq were on either side of Biechta, while he stayed in the doorway, leaning his back against the frame. Halan did her duty and kept babbling about the creative process for her most recent success, having Ashima or Kietnan speak up here and there.

Nothing had happened yet but the guards still hadn't returned. Maybe they eliminated the threat but were incapacitated in the process?

No. There's no way they planned a surprise attack that only three guards could foil.

Thump!

Everyone in the room startled when something heavy banged against the door across the larger room.

Thump!

Kahal turned and gave Othen a nod, who then gave the females and Thuq instructions for their emergency exit. He let his brothers handle the protests that rose up in response, as he focused on the door.

Thump! Splinters flew.

"One more and they'll be in. It's time to go."

Thump!

The door, or what was left of it, flew open as four Qarthan males and two females came barreling into the room.

He made eye contact with the first one before stepping into Halan's smaller office and locking the door behind him.

"I'll stay and hold them off. It won't take them long to get in." He said as he drug her heavy desk in front of the door.

Thump!

"What?!" He heard shouts but wasn't sure who they came from.

"Someone needs to cover the hatch to buy you some time." He explained.

"I'll do it, my lord. You need to get to safety." Thuq offered eagerly.

"There's no way I'm letting you do that, my friend."

Thump!

Thuq deflated, he knew he'd never win that argument. "Then I'm staying with you. We'll buy them more time together."

Kahal nodded, admiration for his friend filling him.

"I'm staying too. We can take them." Kietnan proclaimed, much to Ashima's dismay.

Kahal shook his head. "We don't know what kind of weapons they have. We can't risk staying in here all cramped together as easy targets. I need you to protect the females, Kietnan. Othen and Joreth too. We don't know what they'll walk into out there. We can't send them alone, they don't have any training to protect themselves." He said as he held eyes with Rahn, who gave him a subtle nod. He was relying on her as their last measure to keep them all safe.

"Something I plan on rectifying immediately when this is over." Ashima proclaimed, much to Kietnan's dismay. "Don't look at me like that. If I'm going to keep being in danger, I should at least know some self defense!"

Thump!

You're wasting the time my brother is sacrificing himself for us to get." Joreth said angrily, cutting her off. The brothers knew not to attempt to talk him into leaving so they could take his place. It was an argument they'd never win and they didn't have time to hash it out.

The seven of them dropped down the hatch one by one as Kahal held against the desk that was holding the door in place. Once the last person disappeared down the hatch, Thuq covered the hatch with a rug and then a side table, quickly positioning the arm chairs on either side of it.

"This way the rug will look more natural in that position. Maybe it will buy us a few more moments." Thuq offered in explanation as he grabbed a couple large and heavy ornaments from Halan's desk, handing one to Kahal.

Thump!

"This is it." Kahal yelled out as splinters surrounded him. He took a step back and placed a hand on Thuq's shoulder. "Thank you, my friend."

"It's been an honor." Thuq responded just as the door practically exploded into the room.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Author's Note:

Things are starting to get into motion! What are your thoughts so far?

What do you think will happen?

Thuq was just a side character, but he's starting to grow on me. Maybe I'll have to give him a bit more story time in the future!