Retired

Chapter 60

Chapter 60

My eyes came open in the deepest part of the night. A storm had moved in and thunder rolled and played in the air outside. I lay there listening. I strained to hear what had awakened me. I could not detect anything out of the ordinary.

"Praetorian Leaders, status report," I said softly over my ear bob. The sound of my voice woke Lizell. I waited, but no reply came.

I sent out the general call. "All Praetorian Guard! We have a potential situation. Alert status code blood red. Primary concern is palace."

The replies were instant. I had acknowledgments from all of the unit generals and marshal staff in seconds. The problem was that they were at least three minutes away.

"Robert?"

"I am awake."

"Code lock and secure."

The emperor fell silent. I hoped it was due to the fact he followed my instructions. If he had called the code, all of the royal bed chambers just became sealed mini fortresses. They were not as safe as a warren, but they would do in a pinch.

I moved out of the bed silently as Lizell climbed from the other side. I froze in my tracks at a slight scraping sound in the hallway. I saw Lizell out of the corner of my eye. She had pulled one of my pistols and had it aimed at the door.

When the sound did not repeat, I started to move again. I needed my weapons. I moved as silently as I could to the stand where I kept my weapons. I deliberately strapped all my weapons into place. Once I was armed, I moved to Lizell. "I need you to get into the bathroom. You are to kneel in the bathtub. Then you are to keep that weapon pointed at the door. If anyone opens the door, shoot them," I said in the lightest whisper.

Lizell nodded and started to move towards the bathroom. As she moved, the slight scraping sound came again from outside our bedroom door.