Systems In Chaos: Dissention

Chapter 30

Chapter 30

The people in the throne room were huddling in groups. Some were trying to press themselves against the walls and the corners, hoping that they wouldn’t be seen if the imperials happened to get in. Others about the room were shaking in fear, being as quiet as they could in hopes that the hadi wouldn’t look in here if they didn’t make much noise. The Queen, Ser Hart, Klair and Gaia were off to the side, away from the throne, at Klair’s request. She pointed out that they were less likely to be seen if they weren’t in the centre of the room, though the Queen’s flamboyant scarlet dress stuck out in the crowd of grey, black and green, like a lamp in a pitch dark tunnel.

Klair walked through the crowd, trying to make her way to the side hall at the other end of the throne room. Unlike everyone else that had to hold onto the feeling of having to go to the bathroom, she was required to endure no such torture. Most people would be too frightened to even be thinking about going to the toilet, but she had to go. Having been a guest in the palace many times before, when she knew nothing of her true lineage, when her Father and Mother were invited to dinner by the Queen, they would normally feast towards the back of this very room. During that time she had been shown a door, hidden in the wall, which led to a small corridor that had the Queen’s more private rooms. Her Father had suggested that the Queen should take advantage of the hidden quarters and hide there, but she had refused. The Queen knew that it would be for the best of her people if she was seen to be among them, not hiding away and leaving them all to fend for themselves when the Hadi or the Imperials came marching in to slaughter them all.

As she pressed by a few people someone off to the side must have pushed his or her neighbour because all of a sudden she had the weight of four of them falling onto her. Thankfully they kept their footing and none of them actually fell on top of her, but she was unfortunate enough to have the foul smelling pit of someone’s arm pressed onto her face as they flailed about trying to regain balance. The patch of bodily water that was left imprinted on her face was almost enough to make her hurl, she had to fight to keep her food down as her stomach started to heave. She wiped the man’s sweat off of her face furiously as she hurried to the wall panel. When she reached it she placed her foot on a small diamond shaped block at the base of the wall. The pressure plate gave way and sunk into the floor as she pressed her weight down upon it. While keeping her foot firmly on the plate she pushed one of the small circles engraved into the metal wall. With the plate weighted and the button pushed, the wall slid back a few inches and shifted to the side. When she entered the small hallway she hit a second button, this one was more clearly displayed, on a grey and blue board and the door closed behind her.

As she made her way to the bathroom three doors down she sighed loudly, if not for this war I would be at a nightclub somewhere out in the Outer City right about now. Somewhere I could have some fun, and relax, and perhaps find a guy or girl to fuck. Klair sat to relieve herself. I haven’t had sex in months. I could have had that Imperial officer back when I was Dalen’s prisoner… I can’t believe that Teran turned me down. Me! She let out a huff of air, exasperated. After all this is done and finished, I swear, I am going to find myself a cutie or two and lock myself away with them for a whole week! She wiped herself dry and rose. The sensors on the seat detected that she had gotten up and automatically flushed. The lid fell to rest on top of the seat. She heard the quiet hiss as the lid sprayed some cleaning agent where she had just been sitting. She washed her hands and her face and left.

As she walked closer to the hidden door she could hear loud voices and cries coming through the almost soundproof wall. She carefully placed an ear to the back of the door, hoping she would be able to make out some of what was being yelled to determine what was happening. She could hear bits and pieces, fragments of sentences, but nothing clear. Every few seconds she caught a full word or two but that was it. With the mix of what sounded like a hundred voices added to the sound resistant wall it was hard to make out anything. But the gun shot that came echoing through the throne room and her small hidden refuge was unmistakable. Something was very wrong.