Keeper of Life - NaPoWrMo Entry

“Bring me the matriarch!” the queen's voice filled the hall as she looked out the balcony. A councilor bowed and sped off. Under the over-watch of the castle she could see guards scurry about as they funneled from the walls to District Two, as her tranquil city turned into chaos, as all she worked for descended into a restless form of discord.

Checkpoints had been set up hastily, the entire district was closed off, the guardians ran from gate to gate. Others corralled the crowd scanning them, funneling them into squares so they could be cleared. Her citizens were in panic, disorder, and the festival was in chaos. This wasn't what she ordered, in fact she had ordered quite the opposite. Her citizens were being treated like beasts, their dignity immediately striped. She watched as guards tore through houses belonging even to the chancellors, they were thrown out on the street while soldiers ransacked their houses without regard for privacy or respect for status.

The grand doors opened and a tall guardian entered. She wore full battle regalia, her silver armor reflecting the colors of the stained glass windows. “Your majesty I-”

“What is this Valor?! I thought I ordered the guards to the outside wall, I thought I said that my citizens would not to know of this. What about the festival, what about order Valor! You are failing as your duty as matriarch,” she said with scorn.

“I've only failed if The Tree dies your majesty, and not before,” she said with steeled resolve. “I don't think you understand the severity of the mat-”

“I don't think you understand the importance of order Valor. You've failed me too many times Valor, first you let them through the barrier, then into my city, then even out my windows. This chaos will only hide them, we know what they want. All orders of this magnitude are to go through me,” she said.

“We've no time for bureaucracy your majesty,” she answered.

“I'll ignore that foolish statement Valor,” she said. “I want you to withdraw both the guards and the guardians and post them around The Tree. If that's what they're after then it would stan-”

“With all due respect your majesty, leave the tactics to me.” The queen attempted to bore holes in her with her gaze but Valor stood her ground. “Posting guards at The Tree would only fail, if they've gotten past the wall then they'll get past there, guard accountability is too difficult in such a large cluster, they would slip past easily. The grove is best guarded by my own elite units and by barricading the district this gives us the opportunity to erect multiple fronts, clean out the district, and filter them out in an isolated environment. We can fight them on our own terms and wipe them from the map.”

“The order has already been given apparently, I expect you to clean up this mess as quickly as possible,” the queen said. “I assure you Valor, I will accept no measure of further faliure from you.”

“Of course your majesty, we're screening the current residents and sending them to District Six to partake in festivities, and I've arranged for lodgings and essential services for those without access to their homes. It will all be taken care of Your Majesty, and after tonight we'll never have to worry about this again.”

“I hope not Valor, for both our sakes.”