"if you feel you must go I won't stop you" he replied letting go of her lands "and I'll take you up on the honor of watching you preform because everyone is special" he smiled at her and walked her back to the courtyard, acting as if they were talking about wine and vocal chords. He watched her get back on stage and begin singing again, each rise and fall of pitch and volume throwing him from emotion to emotion. He watched her sing for about 10 until he felt a tap on his shoulder, one of the party staff was holding a note in his hands.
"note for you, your highness" he said looking at his feet.
"thank you Marcus" he replied with a curt nod, he unfolded the note and read through it :'good evening your highness, I would like to discuss with you matters of arrgency outside your chambers. Yours truely, a fellow soldier.'.
Voltus looked between the note and the singer and with heavy heart mouthed 'I'm sorry' to her and walked off towards his room on the opposite end of the palace, which was cordoned off to visitors. He saw a man standing outside his room dressed in a military guard's outfit.
"you sent a note?" he asked the unknown man.
"yes," he replied "and I'm sorry."
The sound of a single gunshot and the falling of a shell echoed throughout the palace followed by running and the clattering of a gun. Voltus fell to his knees, blood pouring out of a shot to his chest. He started to cough the coppery tang of blood in his mouth. He hit the floor and everything went dark.