Kahal immediately charged at the first male, assaulting him before his eyes could open and adjust after barging through the splintering wood. Using the element of surprise, he slammed the heavy ornament into a male's head, knocking him down before doing the same to another.

He went for a third but this one grabbed his forearms, stopping his attack.

"Where are the others?!" One of the females yelled.

"What others?" Kahal bantered as he fought the male for control. He noticed the male was leaning pretty heavily forward to hold him at bay so he quickly stepped back, causing the male to lunge forward with his own momentum. As he did so, Kahal turned and slammed his elbow into the back of the male's head, rendering him unconscious.

"They're hiding somewhere!" The other female yelled as she got in a defensive stance, watching Kahal. He turned to see Thuq wrestling with the final male. Thuq was never exactly a physically gifted Qarthan male, he preferred to focus solely on studies and intellect. But Kahal was happy to see him holding his own. Noticing the females weren't charging at him, he kept an eye on them while turning to deal with the male instead. He knocked him out with a powerful, carefully placed punch to the side of the head, then helped Thuq to stand.

"Thanks." Thuq spoke between breaths.

While Kahal was helping Thuq, the two women looked at each other and then down at the four males that Kahal had taken down all while not getting a scratch or bruise on himself. They turned and fled back from the door they'd come in from.

Kahal cursed as he pursued them, just after yelling a command to Thuq. "Find something to tie up the males." They would need them for questioning and also couldn't risk them waking up and continuing their pursuit of the others.

He followed the two women down the hall but as he rounded a corner he stopped and cursed. They were nowhere to be seen. He listened but didn't hear any footsteps. He groaned and rubbed the top of his bald head, wishing he knew the area better. There were so many hiding spots in these vast halls and storage closets, crates, rows of costumes hanging, large props strewn about. How would he ever find them?

After a few minutes with no clues, Thuq joined him and they decided instead to head to where the others in their group would exit.

On the way they passed by a handful of Qarthan males that were putting away supplies and props. Each of which said they'd seen or heard nothing unusual. Deciding he couldn't waste time to question them further, he risked believing them and moved on. They exited the backstage area and went down the hallway where the toilet facilities were. With no one in sight, they entered the theater where the other group should exit, finding no one.

"Do you think they've had time to go through? I think it's full of obstacles down there." Thuq commented.

"I honestly don't know." Kahal said as a knot formed in his stomach. They rushed to where the closest corner of the stage was and quickly found the hatch. Kahal lifted it and stuck his head down. "I don't see or hear anyone."

With Thuq keeping an eye out around them, Kahal jumped down into the lower area below the stage. After a few minutes of listening to pure silence he called out. "Kietnan?!"

No answer. "Joreth! Othen!" Still nothing.

He went back up to join Thuq. "I don't think anyone's down there. Let's go find some guards and we'll see if they've made it to safety. If not, we'll send a whole team down to find them. Plus we need to gather our guests from Halan's office."

Thuq nodded and they rushed out of the theater. The halls were full of people merrily talking about the production as they made their way to wherever they were going. Each was surprised at Kahal's urgency and claimed they hadn't seen or heard anything, including his brothers. So he stopped asking and rushed to the king and queen's entertaining room.

He alerted the guards outside the door, giving one instruction to go gather reinforcements to meet him back here, another set of guards to retrieve the men from Halan's office and deposit them into the prison ward, and a third to go search below the stage.

He rushed into the room and the crowd before him gasped in surprise.

"My lords!" He shouted for attention.

"Kahal, where are your brothers? We wish to discuss-" King Japheth began.

"Everyone, I need your attention." He cut off his father.

With everyone staring at him, he began. "An urgent matter needs to be addressed by the premier. I apologize for the interruption, but all of our other guests I must ask you to not leave this room until you have been given the all clear."

Murmurs and questions rang out but he ignored them, turning to his parents. "I need all Members of the Premier to follow me." With that, he nodded at the guards at the door to make sure they understood the instructions before exiting a different door that adjoined a smaller conference room. He was pleased to see the high ranking guards already in the room.

"My lords." Dran greeted with a nod.

"I assume my instructions are being followed out?" Kahal asked Dran.

"As we speak, my lord."

""What is going on?" Lord Teth commanded.

"In a moment, Teth." Kahal didn't glance at the Lord as he responded, returning his attention to Dran. "I want each of those males in individual cells where they can't speak with each other, two guards stationed at each. We don't know what their goal was, so we need to begin questioning them immediately."

"Yes my lord." Dran turned and selected a guard to run off to the prison ward to carry out the instructions.

"What males? What is happening?" Teth commanded again, annoyed.

Kahal ignored him completely this time. "How many guards were sent under the stage? Has no one been found yet?" He continued asking Dran.

"Go get a report!" Dran commanded another guard, who rushed out of the room.

"Lord Kahal, I demand-"

Kahal turned and practically snarled in Teth's face. "You will remain silent until I ask you to speak. Your interruptions are wasting precious time and I already have little patience for you, Teth."

Teth's mouth opened in a gasp and Kahal watched as the man looked as if he would explode. He was no doubt infuriated at the way he was spoken to, and also Kahal's lack of using his title. He was not King yet and did not have such privileges.

Teth turned to the king and queen, Kahal could only assume to protest but he didn't get the chance. "You heard him, Teth. Have a seat." Japheth commanded. Teth sat down with a huff and all of the other Premier members joined him at the table, waiting eagerly.

Kahal turned back to the Dran. "Are there any other incidents to report?"

"No, my lord." He answered.

Kahal nodded and turned to the table of Premier Lords and Ladies. "Good. Now, let's all get on the same page, shall we?" He said as he joined them at the table, but did not sit. He gave a quick run down of the current events, watching as the various Qarthans had their reactions of shock, outrage, and concern.

Just as he was finishing, a guard rushed in. "My lords." He greeted them.

"Yes?" Kahal asked.

"No one was found under the stage. The guards are now doing a sweep of the surrounding areas, working their way outward."

"Send more men, every effort must be made to locate them. Start by searching the areas near each exit, not just the one we had expected them to come out of."

The guard nodded and rushed off.

"They could have already come out on their own." Lady Sieka of the Northern Quadrant offered.

"But where did they go? Surely they would have informed guards once they reached safety." Lord Quiel from the Southern Quadrant countered and everyone nodded in agreement.

"I will go question the prisoners. Lord Rolph, you're with me." Japheth stated and the two males left the room.

"What now?" Sieka asked Kahal.

"Why are you asking him? He is not King yet." Teth bellowed.

"He is still a Lord and he is acting General, Lord Teth. I suggest you keep your place." Lord Quiel countered.

Kahal offered him a nod of thanks.

"He couldn't even keep his own brothers and their partners safe. He's the last person we should be listening to." Teth argued.

Sieka gasped and Quiel raised a brow, Dran took a step forward in defense.

"Aren't you forgetting someone?" Kahal asked calmly.

Teth's face scrunched up in confusion. "What?"

"My brothers and their partners... yet you don't even ask about your own flesh and blood?"

Teth's eyes rounded in surprise before he quickly schooled his features and cleared his throat. "Of course, she was included in my concern."

"Concern?" Kahal leaned forward, placing his hands on the table beside Teth. "You hardly seem concerned at all. All you seem to care about is your pride. I honestly question what qualities it is you bring to us, Teth. You are silent when you are needed. You offer no insights, no suggestions, you offer no help. Yet when given the opportunity to either complain or point fingers, your lips suddenly become loose again."

Teth stood abruptly. "How dare you!"

Kahal stood to his full height, looking down at the angry man. "Oh, I do dare, Teth." He said calmly and quietly, opposite of the older man in front of him. "The character traits I have learned about you over these past weeks are enough to elicit an investigation into your leadership. Your actions this evening have simply sealed your fate."

"Wh...what?" Teth asked nervously, looking at the others in the room before his eyes landed on Queen Thala, who had been silent until now.

She remained in her seat and raised a brow, as if waiting for the man to challenge her son.

"My... my Queen, surely this is nonsense...."

"Oh Teth..." she sighed. "Do please hold some manner of decorum. We will discuss this later. For now, I suggest you keep quiet and try to not further anger your future king."

Teth stuttered for a moment before returning to his seat.



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

Author's Note:

I'm so excited we're getting into the action now!

The next chapter will be a retelling of the entire event from Rahn's POV. What do you think happened to the missing brothers and their partners?