2-047, The Palace Grand

“Come with me.”  Mihai was emotionally exhausted as she tugged on Darla’s sleeve, pulling her toward the stairs that led high into the upper bleachers.  “I need a rest from these well-wishers.”  She turned her head to look down at the gathering crowd as the two ascended the steps.  “We’ll take a little breather up here.”

“Whew!”  Mihai sighed relief.  She nudged Darla, pointing down toward the main floor.  “There, right there, you see where PalaHar and Terey are standing?  There’s a trap door in the floor that allows a person to be lowered out of sight.  Well… not just people, but stage props and things like that.”

Darla sat up, asking, “Like what?  Why would a council chamber have a trap door for props?”

“Oh…” Mihai smiled.  “This wasn’t always a council chamber.  Really, it has been that for less than your lifetime. 

This was the Palace Grand, Mother’s private theater, before the Rebellion, that is.  The entire floor was…is the stage, the far wall the backdrop for the plays’ settings.  Two and three dimensional holographic scenes would accent the story-line and acting, creating an illusion for the audience, making everything so real.”

She softly stroked Darla’s knee.  “There are a vast number of storage rooms and passageways under these bleachers, and the many landings scattered about within the seating area.  Then there’s the wide upper landing above and behind us that circles around in a horseshoe formation nearly to the far wall.  All of those things were originally constructed for the actors’ use… to bring the plays more to life.  Oftentimes the people in the audience would become part of the play itself.  Oh, it was so much fun.” Then pointing down at the spot earlier mentioned, she added, “I came up through that trap door.  I was a flower blossoming in spring, and I sang a little song after the hidden elevator had lifted up to the stage.”

Mihai nodded dreamily.  “I was only eight years old and, as I remember, the center of attention, receiving the most accolades for such a splendid performance.”  Her face clouded.  “That was so long ago now, back in the days of endless peace.”

Enjoy other posts: 

Prologue,

Destiny's Road 1-001, 1-002, 1-003, 1-004, 1-005, 1-006, 1-007, 1-008, 1-009,

1-010, 1-011, 1-012, 1-013, 1-014, 1-015, 1-016, 1-017, 1-018, 1-019, 1-020,

1-021, 1-022, 1-023, 1-024 & 1-025 

Of Councils Great and Small 2-026, 2-027, 2-028, 2-029, 2-030, 2-031, 

2-032, 2-033, 2-034, 2-035, 2-036, 2-037, 2-038, 2-039, 2-040, 2-041, 2-042, 
2-043, 2-044, 2-045, 2-046, 2-047, 2-048, 2-049 & 2-050 

Legend's Heroes 3-051, 3-052, 3-053, 3-054, 3-055, 3-056, 3-057, 3-058,

3-059, 3-060, 3-061, 3-062, 3-063, 3-064, 3-065, 3-066, 3-067, 3-068, 3-069,

3-070, 3-071, 3-072, 3-073, 3-074 & 3-075

Forges of Hell 4-076, 4-077, 4-078, 4-079, 4-080, 4-081, 4-082, 4-083, 4-084,
4-085, 4-086, 4-087, 4-088, 4-089, 4-090, 4-091, 4-092, 4-093, 4-094, 4-095,
4-096, 4-097, 4-098, 4-099 & 4-100

Or find your own book at:

Amazon.com; Smashwords.com; 

Diesel-Ebooks.com, BN.com; ebookstore.sony.com