Scribbles and Drabbles

Notebook Drabble 7.2

Moving along the timeline, Sen is working unofficially with Kenji and the crew while people sort out his credentials. The Emperor has come to visit to check up on the crew when a native of the planet tries to kill the Emperor.

[Suspect is on the east corridor, nightingale corner]

[On it] Sen skidded across the floor, barrelling through several rooms and passing several surprised faces. He was on the wrong floor, but no one else was this close to him. The quickest way would be to drop down to the east corridor. This was foolish. A sniper might go for him, mistaking him for the enemy. It would no doubt be a fruitless endeavour, but he hadn't got this far playing straight.

He slammed against the balcony edge. The dim music that announced the arrival of the Emperor's entourage played nearby. The music wasn't directly below. This entire palace was a nightmare for this type of thing. It was too open, with too many entrances and exit points. He hooked his legs over the edge. The planned route would put the man three stories down in the main entrance hall. He twisted and dropped, throwing himself onto the platform below. He rolled into the landing and sprinted ahead. No bullets shattered into him.

More noise squealed over the radio. Sen didn't have time to focus on it. If he stopped, if he answered the call, he'd fail. His Uncle walked on the floor below, unaware of the danger above.

He barrelled through the door and into the space. Time slowed and sped up. Too many things happened in a brief moment. The nightingale corner had a tile mosaic floor with scroll paintings decorating it. Collins designed it to be a peaceful refuge from the madness of court life. The linking staircase wasn't accessible. The intruder wouldn't know about that; instead, the web of an anchor laced around the room's columns.

The man startled, twisting to face him, holding a carabiner in one hand with the device sitting on the side. There was no weapon insight. A second man, or a traitor in the ranks ready to act once his Uncle's shielding failed? No time to consider further; he needed to stop the EMG.

Sen hurled himself forwards to grab the device.

His footing was not sound.

The man fought.

A knife appeared and slashed towards his face. He ducked down and kicked to knock the man over. His hands curled around the EMP. The man grabbed his collar and threw him against the railings, trying to throw him to the ground below, stopping him as he realised Sen had the device. A gunshot rattled across him, deafening him. The grip went limp. Gravity won before Sen could grab something else to hold. Sen went over the side of the balcony, plummeting down, EMP in his hands.

Pain whited out his eyes. His ankle screamed, and his foot went numb. It took a few moments to think beyond the pain to work out what had happened for the pain. He swung slowly as the rope that had tangled around him creaked. The rope the intruder had set up had somehow twisted around his leg and ankle stopping his fall. How far down was another question that required him to open his eyes instead of trying to block out the world. Someone yelled his name from above. He held on tighter to the EMP.

He let his eyes flicker open, one deep breath and two deep breaths. He shut them again as the dizziness of vertigo from looking at the sky upside down hit—another round of shouts over the radio but the words blurred together.

"Sen, can you respond?" a much closer voice called.

His mouth turned dry. That voice wasn't a good one. Sen hadn't heard that tone in a long time. Last time had been after the battle when his Uncle had tried to take off his head. The Emperor didn't know at the time that it had been Sen, and the comm calls after the fact had been a similar tone.

"Yeah?"

"Good," the Emperor said. "Can you feel your foot?"

Sen tried to move his toes. The burning pain stopped the panic when nothing responded. "No."

"John's on his way with his flight pack, try not to move," a second voice added. "Don't look."

"Kay," more than one syllable wouldn't be possible right now. He shivered and hugged the device in his arms close to his chest. The radio continued to buzz, now shifting into calling him an idiot and summoning a medic. The Emperor was talking again, not to him.

Sen squawked as the rope fell another foot.

Hands caught him and gathered him up close to a warm chest. "Got you, little Prince," John promised. The tension in the rope disappeared as someone cut the cord. They moved the action enough to send fire burning up his leg. He bit his lip, but that didn't stop the whimper of pain. He was used to pain. Fighting did that, but this pain hit differently. John hushed him.

"Give him here," his Uncle stole him from John, holding him secure in a princess style. Lips kissed his brow, and someone took the EMP away. Sen let them, instead gripping his Uncle's robes tightly, trying to ignore the murmur of voice around them. Sen hid his face against the metal armour of the Emperor's breastplate as another rush of pain rocked through him. Focusing on something could sometimes help block pain. On the smell of his Uncle's aftershave blocked some of the pain. The court followed the Emperor where he roamed. His Papa wouldn't be here. He'd be locked away on the capital planet in a golden cage, not visiting border planets.

"I'm hardly going to disappear with him."

"Not the time for joking," someone scolded.

Someone injected his angle with something. It took a few moments, but the burning pain turned into a soft throbbing, no longer overwhelming his senses. He kept his face pressed against his Uncle's chest plate. Someone poked and scanned at his foot. The crowd of people surrounding them before had disappeared, leaving him alone with his Uncle and his closest allies. John and Dwayne bickered in the background.

"Sen? Can you look at me?" his Uncle coaxed, lips brushing against his hair.

Sen didn't want to. That would turn his Uncle back into the Emperor. The problem was, if he didn't, the show of disobedience would trigger that turn. It took a second, but he pulled away. His Uncle smiled at him, but his eyes were guarded. They were sitting on a sofa, one of his Uncle's private medics looking over his ankle as the Emperor held him.

"I thought you weren't arriving until tomorrow, your majesty," Sen croaked, not quite able to control the pitch of his voice.

"I heard a rumour or two and came faster."

"More like ditched the planned secured route to skip straight here." John may have said the words, but Dwayne's disapproval rang through. Sen flushed as the grip tightened even as his Uncle gave a glare to his subordinates. Kenji had said the Emperor wanted to see him.

"We've been worried," his Uncle settled on.

"I wasn't going to disappear," Sen glanced down to his foot, but his Uncle blocked his view and forced him to look back up at him again.

"You vanished."

"Wasn't my choice," Sen's cheeks burned.

"No, not from any fault of your own, but that doesn't change that we didn't know where you were."

There was the 'we' again. His Uncle wasn't the only one who had worried.

"How is Papa?"

"He's fine, Sen. Very worried after you, but he's adjusted well to the new state of affairs," Emperor gave Sen a look. Sen tried not to shy away. He had good reason to worry after his father. His Uncle wasn't a monster. His Uncle loved him and loved his Papa and protected the people he loved. The Emperor would throw anyone on a spike to achieve his goals, loved and protected or not. "Given your recent actions, we may have to get you hover anklets again."

"I was six!"

"You were adorable. Still adorable," his Uncle kissed his forehead.

Sen grumbled. "You have people trying to kill you again.

"I always do."