Murderous

A Father's Defense

???: Sir. Your majesty. Sir!

Stolas awoke from his nap at his desk to the sight of several of his guards, fully armored in kevlar and faceplates, armed with high grade weapons. The squad leader was the closest to him and clearly ready to answer his questions.

Stolas: What's happened?

Imp Sergeant: We need to evacuate the palace.

Stolas: What? Why? O- Octavia. Is she okay?

Imp Sergeant: We're getting her and Princess Stella out to the garden.

Stolas shook the sleepiness out of his head then placed his top hat on his head.

Stolas: The garden, huh? Lead the way.

Imp Sergeant: Squad, defensive positions.

The guards surrounded Stolas on all sides and followed their squad leader with Stolas out into the gardens. There, in the tea area, sitting at a small, round, glass table, was Stella and Octavia. Octavia stood up too fast, and grabbed her sore chest before sitting back down.

Octavia: Dad? What's going on? They wouldn't tell us anything.

Stolas: They didn't tell me anything either. Are you both alright?

Stella: I'm rather annoyed. I was about to have a nice, hot, bath. Now we're doing this. When I find out what dickhead made the mistake of messing with us, I'll tear his head off!

Stolas: It's probably just a false alarm. Then again, I do feel something off in the air. Best to just let the guards sweep the building, then we can get back to whatever we were doing.

Stella: What are they all doing, anyway? They look worried.

Octavia: Why are they only looking here in the garden? Are... are they staring at us?

Stella: What do we pay these ingrates for?

Stolas looked around himself at the guards. They were all as fully armed and armored as the squad that woke him up. The only time all the guards had the time to equip themselves was during the yearly purges, when they knew where and when the threat would come. If some sort of emergency needed immediate attention, why were all the guards in full kit? How did they equip themselves so fast? Like Octavia said, every guard Stolas knew was normally present in the palace was standing in the garden or on the balconies and in windows that overlooked it. In fact, there were a few more guards than what Stolas expected. All of them looked only around the garden and at them. None of them made an effort to check anywhere else. They all whispered to each other or spoke to each other over their earpieces. Both manners Stolas couldn't hear. Now Stolas knew what that strange feeling was. It was the energy of deceit. This was a trap.

Stolas: Stella... Octavia... On my mark, I want you both to get down and press up against the wall.

Stella: What?

Octavia: Dad, what's going on?

Stolas: Just do it.

Stella: Is this some sort of sick j- !

Stolas raised his hand and Stella's mouth was forced closed. One of the guards took notice of Stella's sudden exclamation at them and pressed his finger to his ear piece. The other guards all turned towards the birds and simultaneously raised their guns at them.

Stolas: Get down!

Stella and Octavia did as he said, sliding out of their chairs and ducking down while pressing themselves against the wall behind them. Stolas swung one arm and the table flew over, the tabletop was now sitting protectively in front of his wife and daughter. In an instant the glass table was entirely plated with tungsten. As he did this, his other hand emitted a ball of light that exploded and expanded. The light flew outwards into a spherical shaped magickal barrier.