A Run on the Bank

[Judah Lesan]

”Certainly I mean now! If you intend to claim Chandaar now then we must be wed. If not they will insist you marry one of their men to legitimatize your claim, and I will not see another man embrace you as his. We will act now, take Chandaar without warning, and establish our alliance with the control of one government while we work to secure mine. That will take more time.”

Xander knew Zarah knew he was correct. She would agree, and with that he would have her not only engaged to be his, but in a matter of hours they would be man and wife. This was their promise to each other, and the painting which remained on Ec Pand was the thing which had spurred them on. He couldn’t have thought this to be possible a week ago, but they had been their only company for that time.

”Yes we must deal with her diction,” Xander said as he spun around to greet his intended. ”It wasn’t that exact moment I wanted to kiss, certainly you felt the tension? It why you were backing up. You knew I wanted something.”

They both knew. This was the beauty of their relationship. The two were so well suited, but also so well in tune with each other. Xander could only smile. Her command to wow her was one that he had no problem obeying. However, he was unsure the best way to go about it. Soon he dipped her and his lips pressed to hers. His mouth opened slightly to surprise her.

His intention had been to keep her occupied until they touched down upon Naboo, however that was certain to be an awfully tempting situation for them both. As he pulled away Xander smirked. The ship hit the atmosphere, it could be felt.

”Xander... Viren? You don’t suppose to mean I am going to take YOUR name? How would Indupar accept a man that has vacated his family name? Is this the tradition on Chandaar?

[member="Zarah Viren"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“I fought for Chiara’s marriage, I can fight for my own… but I agree. I will be embraced by no other man and this is the best way to secure it. They cannot control my marriage if I forego their ability to meddle.” A tired darkness came to Zarah’s face as her eyebrows furrowed, “They will meddle enough as is until I bear them a son or daughter for the throne and in that I do not intend to rush.”

The flashes of memory which struck her in the carbonite sifted back into her conscious mind.

Airael Viren groaning in bed in another failed attempt to keep a brother for the throne. Her mother’s constant cursing, throwing herself at whatever lover would take her, unrelenting demands for her daughter to spread her thighs and claim legitimacy with the quickest marriage which would take her.

Zarah’s eyelids fluttered, her lips stuttering briefly, “Yes… more time. But it will be worth the time. About as much time as it will take to teach Lu Sii to sound as a Lady, I wager?”

Tilting her head to the side, Zarah chuckled and cupped [member="Darth Vizios"]’ cheek. “I knew, and in my infamy I wanted to battle the moment! Choose my own! Proclaim my dominance by stealing that first kiss in some grand gesture.”

The artificial atmosphere of the ship’s cabin tempered to a winter’s chill as the Duchess Zarah Viren lost all semblance of her tight control. A body which combatted affection at every second of her eight hundred years, clicked in the presence of the right man. Like a warm sunset bathing her skin, Xander’s kiss opened Zarah up for the promises their marriage foretold.

‘But Mother says…’

‘Enough, Zarah.’ Tharand sighed, pulling his nine year old daughter into his arms to watch the sun set upon the Royal Palace. Armed guards stood in statuesque repose every few meters. Chandaar in the civil war which would eventually claim all but three of the Royal Family. Zarah cuddled her arms around her father’s neck, as he held her on his hip. ‘If the sunset is beautiful, do you reach to touch it?’

‘Why, Papa, how ridiculous! No one can touch the sun! It is far too dangerous!’

‘And yet we touch it with our eyes, we feel its’ warmth on our skin, the beauty and grandeur of the sun is omnipresent. Inside us. Love, Zarah. Love is like the setting sun. We still feel its’ warmth, we revere its’ beauty for the eternally unexpected swathes of colour, how they thrill our eyes. When you meet the right man, the right one, Zarah, he will alight upon you like the sunset and no nerves or secret terrors we keep locked in our chests will keep that warmth and delight from you… So no. I did not agree that you would be given in marriage to the Prince Blackmoore. Your mother be damned. To bind another person in the wrong star’s heat… it burns. You wait, my…’

‘Prince Tharand! Your Highness, we have to move… the dissidents broke the Palace’s outer defences. Airael is at their head.’

Tharand placed Zarah back on the marble floor. ‘Run to Chiara, Zarah! I will come to you there… no! No lip, go! Your cousin will be frightened by the noise… run!’ He watched Zarah scamper down the hallway, flanked by four of his best guards. Prince Tharand, Duke of Chandaar engaged his blaster pistol. ‘Run, child… Protect the King! Move out!’

The stellar body inside Xander’s soul broke across Zarah’s planetary ice shell, and warmed her skin. She glowed with a mirrored radiance, contented and thrilled with the event which promised to shake their foundations once more and create a new star system of soul in which to reside.

“The future King of Chandaar will be known by a Cronese title… how would Cron accept a woman that has vacated her family name? My father took the Viren name when he and Airael were wed… I shall make it easier for you to stomach.” Zarah kept her arms on his shoulders, fingers playing with the hair on the back of his neck. “Viren-Blackmoore. True equals in name and respect of deed. You will take my name as I will take yours. The alliance of old finally fulfilled, Indupar and Cron linked by blood. Is my husband going to wear his leathers to wed his bride?”

Digging behind her back, Zarah produced the bag of jewels from Xander’s mother and set it on her lap. “You searched for a ring, what do you want to bet me that it will be a perfect fit?”

 

[Judah Lesan]

"You and I both know they will not be happy until you bear them a daughter. For my people it will be a son."

They both understood what the people wanted, and demanded. For as much as Xander had tried to change Indupar, the force stasis had taken him from a seat to influence the change he required. They would have to make the changes required together. While some would argue they were rushing, this was as much about power as it was their romance. Zarah clearly held a certain amount of affection for the man, enough to agree to his hasty proposal and even the wedding.

"She will eventually learn, especially if she is to be a queen's maid."

That was all that needed to be discussed about the maid Zarah had chosen. Her form and diction were not suitable, but Xander was not going to give up on the girl. Zarah would mold her well.

There was a moment where Zarah seemed to fade off into a distant memory. Most of Xander's were not good. His father was a brutal task master, to the point Xander had learned the lesson his father failed to. Gentle leaders could do more than violent ones. There needed to be enough violence to keep fear, but the gentle hand was the one the people would love. It had come to the words Xander spoke to Zarah on several occasions, words she had been loathe to hear. One must know when to purr and when to bite. Xander found he needed to purr more often than bite.

"There is no need to make it easier to stomach. Your name will be mine among the Cronese and mine will be yours among the nobility of Indupar. There is no reason to pretend we need to make it easy on one or the other. When the alliance is secure, and we make it what we want, then I will take your name, if that is what you wish."

Xander fished through the bag for his mother's ring as they conversed, Zarah's question caused him to look back up. It was likely the ring fit with the way things were going. He shrugged.

"Shall we find out," Xander said as he pulled out a ring with a large roundcut center stone and two smaller roundcut ruby's.

He took Zarah's hand and slid the ring onto her ring finger, and it was in fact a perfect fit. Xander smiled. He kissed the ring, then Zarah's hand. Xander wanted to leave a trail of kisses up her arm, but the man was concerned about igniting a fire before they made it to the wedding. He simply looked at Zarah.

"I can only contain myself until we make this official. It is hard enough to simply ignore my desires for now."

[member="Zarah Viren"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“Indupar will have its son eventually. And Cron it’s daughter.” There was a curious fatalism to the statement as it was made, a trial Zarah intended to keep private even beyond the truth she displayed now as a constant to her beloved. Beloved…

Arranged in perpetuity, their marriage was as much an act of political advantage as a lover’s fate. Did he love her? As Zarah looked into the face of the Seer, she knew he did not yet. She was intriguing, beautiful, yet he had no love in his heart, for it had been removed long before he entered the Sith’s ways and teachings.

The cruelty of his father, King of Indupar was legendary. It caused both Zarah’s parents to shake and tremble, it caused Tharand Viren to undergo a thirty four year battle to save the only child he ever had, who survived.

Zarah. The original deal for a Consort for Indupar. A deal brokered twenty seven years before Zarah was born, it was a teenaged Prince’s desperation which brought him to Indupar’s door, sealing the marriage of the weakling son his teenaged wife held in her bitter arms. Another secret Zarah intended to keep to her grave, as she had when King Xander Blackmoore entered the Throne Room of Chandaar and demanded Chiara, and barring Chiara’s, Zarah’s hand. Tharand’s hand in coercing Tarion and Aurelia their infant daughter Chiara was the better suited was a particular stroke of grandeur in the Duke’s political career.

Again Zarah appeared far away, distanced by the clicks and pocks of an explosive series of shatter points and vines on the ever growing and waning forest of tangible fates in her mind. “Lu Sii is worth the teaching.”

The decision of [member="Darth Vizios"] to pair their names with the planetary system was another stroke of wisdom granted by a lifetime in noble circles. They could be Earls, Counts, Dukes and Marquess’ of dirt and the noble houses would rise up in defence of a name, slinging the mud of their tiny hills in the process. “Aye, on Ec Pand and Indupar, I shall be Zarah Blackmoore… I know better how to shift the culture by honey than the vinegar of a stray and displaced royal creating too great a stir too quickly. However…”

Zarah pushed off the table and circled the room, watching the way he searched for a vivid memory of a woman who did him no wrong.

“Xander Viren has such a lovely ring. It quite heats my blood… your… temporary containment can certainly hold firm better than… calling you Xander Viren does give me designs on you for after the wedding is officiated.“ Xander Viren. The grin on Zarah’s face was predatory and resplendent, an echo of the krayt dragon her house was founded upon. Yes, she would have him.

Zarah would gobble up his very name for her own designs, and deliver him to a title and prestige which now seemed impossible to achieve on Indupar. As the rubies and diamond sat upon her finger, Zarah’s eyes stared up at the man. There was time, infinite years, to look down at the bauble on her finger, as precious as his mother’s ring was.

“Xander, I…”

“Beg pardon, Ma’am. We’re nearing the estate. I’s called the Brotherhood, their Abbot’s waiting’ t’take you two on a tour. You know, what they’ve done with your… investment… got t’get ready, right? Laid out your blue dress… one wit’th’gold on it. Y’comin, y’majesty?” Lu Sii curtseyed over and over, ducking her head every single time. Zarah stepped away from Xander and rushed from the room, her face a shade red closest to her hair.

The Lake was as tranquil as she remembered. Draped in the royal blue chersilk and gold embellishments of the Duchess of Chandaar, Zarah Viren appeared in her coronet, draped with jewels from Indupar and Cron. Lu Sii trailing behind her in her deep burgundy Lady’s Maid robes, she carried a box between her hands.

“Duchess Zarah Viren, King Xander Blackmoore, it is as she prophesied.” The aging Abbot bowed his head to Zarah and Xander, folding his arthritic hands in front of his body, white sleeves spilling over. “I greet you in the Blessing of the Goddesses of Cognizance and Compassion. Long may you reign, long may you stay with us, upon this plain…” A strange glint came to the man’s eye as he guided the three through the estate, which hung with brilliant gardens and monks wandering placidly through the halls.

"How came you to our identities?

“A curious greeting, if I may… but an honest one. She told us the dragon of Cron would awaken in our lifetimes… yet not in hers. A curious prophesy from the young.” In the central garden, the fountain Zarah remembered was replaced by a sculpture of a young person, who seemed as defiant of gender as she was defiant of the death signified by the headstone beneath.

“Abhayaradha, Fifteenth Incarnation of the Goddess of Compassion, Princess Emeritus of Theed. The universe knew her in her more masculine tendencies as Anders Sivas, a Lord of the Fringe. She was the spouse of the Thronebreaker. She found forgiveness and love where others found only the horrors of the Sith. Yet, before she was known to the Fringe which no longer exists, she was our Abhayaradha. Our spiritual seer and the Goddess’ revelation to a cold and cruel age… she, in her visions, saw your appearance among us… she studied the agreement between the Brothers of Cognizance and Felix Baumjardin. We are all the better for it, your majesties.”

“What happened to her?” Zarah asked, circling the stone sculpture, which sang across the Force itself to brush across her, Xander, Lu Sii. A music through the spirit of the universe rushed into her ears, loneliness and intrigue, the love of a ferocious man, the joys of motherhood and the fear of losing everything over a jilted lover and mistaken words. The aria was both catharsis and unendurable desire, and the more Zarah heard, the more familiar the sound. A threading darkness wove around it, the eternal sensations of Shorn’s inner turmoils and disasters as a Noble’s Son of a cruel father thundering like magma down a mountainside. A hymn to the beautiful violence.

“We know not. Her and her husband’s bodies were interred to us, a sniper’s bullet in her brow, his body mangled unrecognizable from war. She told us you would come. She told us the owner of this estate would return, and that we should all be gracious and prepared… so we prepared. Would you like to take the afternoon repast in your suite, or may I ask to what honour I can pay you?”

 

[Judah Lesan]

”Your father, he would find this an ironic twist of fate, I think. I was not too young to be unaware of his distaste for thenagreement my father wished to broker. He all but ensured your cousin was the one to be matched with Indupar.” Xander smirked at the thought. The thing he was not wanted had come about anyway. The Duke of Ec Pand had been a violent man, his reputation known to all. Zarah’s father did not want her linked with such a family. ”Yet, here we are.”

It was nothing more than a small nod at the mention of Zarah’s servant. Xander would not interfere with her choices or wishes in regards to her staff. If any dared betray here, Zarah would kill them her self. Those that served her well would be rewarded. Xander has no concerns for he knew the woman he was about to make his wife.

His eyes darted between her and the velvet bag of jewels he held in his hand. The banter of their names stirred a chuckle within, though it was contained. It’s only release came at the mention of Zarah’s designs on him that would be there after the wedding was over. Nothing about this was traditional. It was not to be a royal wedding, but it would still carry the passion associated with one.

With the ring in his hand, Xander smiled.

”You have designs on me where a week ago you would have never imagined yourself in my bed. Perhaps I should have played hard to get,” Xander teased.

There was a moment just after Xander placed the ring on Zarah’s finger. Whatever Zarah was about to say or do was interrupted. They would touch down in an hour, and naturally Zarah must prepare. Xander also needed to wear something other than his leathers. Zarah had already commented once, he would not make do so again.

The greeting the two received was nothing short of curious. Her estate was beautiful, everything one would expect of the Lake Country. He listened to the talk of the goddess, a name he had barely recalled. Xander had not been amongst the Fringe long, but long enough to have heard of this woman.

They were asked what honor could be paid, and Xander did not waste anytime.

”We wish to wed, here, and now. It is time for these thing you’ve been told to take shape. Xander Blackmoore and Zarah Viren shall emerge as one.”

[member="Zarah Viren"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“The original deal was for my hand, Xander. It was made 27 years before I was born, during Palpatine’s Royal Executions. I always knew. I knew how much my mother wanted it, and how hard my father fought to take me off Chandaar completely. He tried many times to send me to the Jedi to safety… Chiara received that charity instead. It is what finally caused Tharand’s death… mother refused to lose the advantage I gave her on Chandaar.” A cold moment in the otherwise contented being. How different the tale would play if Zarah had made it away from Cron those centuries ago. Instead she remained, damaged and hard-minded, a creature created by the turning hatred between parents and the desperation of a mother who refused to lose on any terms.

“You. Hard to get.” Zarah raised an eyebrow, face blank but for a gentle curve of her lips. “How provoking… isn’t it a wife’s place? To have such designs, and give her husband reason to keep coming back?”

The statue continued to sing, a chorus playing around Zarah and Xander with enough pathos to make Lu Sii step away, sit upon a bench and bawl quietly by herself. Zarah held the sensations, empathic imprints and lyrics to her heart, binding them there as Xander answered for them all. Them both.

Was she really marrying Xander Blackmoore?

“Wed… are you both in agreement?” The elderly abbot took Zarah’s slender hand and peered into her eyes. “Is this what you desire, Duchess? Take a care to remind yourself marriage is a commitment of soul, a bond which cannot and should not be broken. It is worthy of more than one’s political leanings… Love between the Light inside you and the Darkness all consuming can be found, yet it is to you to work harder for it.”

Zarah’s violet eyes swept slowly from the statue to the man beside her. Xander Blackmoore… Eyelids shifted closed, a graceful upturn of her lips. “It is him… and him it has always been. Kingdoms be damned, I am ready.”

Had Xander no throne, had he no house but the one they built, Zarah realized as she heard Abhayaradha’s hymn that she would still take him. She took the artist and visionary in him, the passionate man who fought for a people who currently did not remember him. Yes. It was always Xander. And it always would be.

The abbot sighed, the pressure of another secretive marriage resting ill on his shoulders. “Come, your majesties. We have kept the Lady’s Chapel in fine repair.”

He led them to the smaller chapel, a place for private worship of the family which resided in the estate. Chandaari goddesses resided in miniature beside and between marble statues of Shiraya and the goddesses of Naboo. The Abbot took his place at the altar, and opened an old leather-bound book.

“I do hope you allow us the continued use of your estate as part of our complex, your highness… we old men promise to stay out of your way… would you be rid of us, Master Blackmoore?”

[member="Darth Vizios"]

 

[Judah Lesan]

”No matter, the design of what was always meant has happened. I am not one to believe we are controlled by fate, but I will admit there has been something at work for some time.”

He loved her honesty. There was a purity to it that their evil allowed. Xander could not help but find the history of how things occurred to be interesting. The alliance with Indupar had been in the works long before either of them had been born. It seemed the design was something the dark side wanted, but it also made Xander wonder what the force would bring to challenge them along the way. It was not like the force to bring them together without challenge.

”I would not know about the purpose of such designs, but if you have designs to keep me coming back to you I cannot argue.”

Xander did not question the concerns of the abbot. The religious man had every right to be concerned, and his questions came from the point of his devotion. The Sith was not partial to religion, but he did not see the need to make those that were nervous. He listened as Zarah answered them. It had always been him? Those words would not have come from her lips years ago. Xander smiled, but let her speak, and the abbot next. Would Xander displace them?

His head shook as his eyes met with the Abbot.

”This is not my estate, and the decision is not mine. However, if it were, I would not dismiss you. It is a sanctuary, serene and beautiful. The galaxy needs more of these places as it falls into chaos. You will always have a place here.”

Xander took Zarah’s hand and raised it to the abbot. His smile was clear.

”But perhaps we should wed first, then discuss such things?”

[member="Zarah Viren"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

Honesty was a desperate precursor to hope and a shield against the normal Sithly failings. Dishonesty, or the urge to fall to cunning and multiple games or lines of possibility doomed most dealings of the Sith to a painful game of fear and death. Honesty. A life laid bare was the only way to win and hold him, to prove that their original deal for conquering again the thrones they were promised could be done with ease.

“You will but have us popping in for relaxation and respite, Abbot. My… husband… oh that word… My husband’s decision is mine. Stay. Give us but our use of this place, when we desire.” Zarah nodded, and the Abbot relaxed.

Or if it was not conquering with ease, a passionate constant dalliance. “Purpose? Why, to ensure no other woman could turn your head, is that not a fantastic purpose in and of itself?”

The moments of her independence ticked away. As Xander took her hand, Zarah jolted only slightly at the implication of his touch. “Yes… yes there would be plenty of time.”

One last look between the two, and the Abbot opened his arms to Shiraya and the goddesses behind him, turning to grace them with the prayers and beginnings of a blessing he learned through bitter experience never to deny. The ‘quick version, Preach’ would never exit his lips again, after it cost them Abhayaradha. Blessings… always blessings. How much more precious were blessings when one was to live in the shadow of hell?

“… I now pronounce you husband and wife.” The Abbot bowed his head and closed the leather book. "You may... oh you know. Take all the time you need, your graces."

A shuffle took the man from the Chapel, which was connected to Zarah's remaining private suite via a short hall. He left with a final anointing of Zarah and Xander's brows with scented oil, ending with another silent prayer over Zarah's head. "Thank you, Father Abbot."

In the silence of the secluded chapel, Zarah looked deep into Xander's eyes for some acceptance of their fates. Perhaps one more joust for the man who now held her father's ring? "How does it feel, to finally be a Viren?"

 

[Judah Lesan]

Xander came across as pushy, perhaps eager, but the man knew two things. First his desire for Zarah would not wait for much longer. Secondly, he wanted this. In his mind they had to do this before the desire could fade. He knew he was known to be a fickle man, the desire of his flesh changing at a moment’s notice. Xander wanted to believe this was not simply a lustful thing, and indeed he knew it was not. There had been no one to accept Xander for who he was. Kazrah has even worked at changing him, though he had needed it. Zarah would change nothing about him, and only give him reasons to be faithful to her. How could he not give her his loyalty and..... love.

Love, a word Xander was still learning the defenition of. As the abbot blessed them Xander focused on trying to ascertain some form of meaning. He wanted to tell Zarah that was the feeling he had toward her, but until he knew its meaning could he? Xander knew one truth, he didn’t want anything else. Could love simply be the choice he was making, and staying true to it?

“Husband and Wife...” the words drew him back to the moment. Xander kissed Zarah before she could thank the abbot, and his blue eyes followed the man out the door. Her question broke the contemplative silence between the two of them, and Xander’s brow quirked.

”And these are the first words from your mouth after the deed is done,” Xander said as he pressed even closer to her. ”I am not going to tell you, dearest Lady Blackmoore...” Xander smirked at his verbal parry, ”I have designs to show you.”

Xander did not wait for any acceptance or cunning protest. He simply swept the woman off her feet and carried her toward the hallway which would lead to Zarah’s private chambers.

[member="Zarah Viren"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“Lord Viren!” Zarah yelped with a swell of laughter, swept into her husband’s arms. “Designs my perky aaahahahh!!”

Fade.

The fickle ocean’s storm washed over a perilous cliff face. Centuries of machinations and tempered dealings shunted into the quiet breeze off the lake, a blending of ferocious beings. Fighting the inevitable was stilled for the pristine hope of faithfulness. Would he love her?

Did he?

Was this but a piece of extra frippery to smash aside so he could finally taste of the Cronese gardens promised centuries prior? All such doubts washed clear of the cliffs as Xander’s searching eyes devoured them.

Zarah stirred and sighed, releasing herself to the bliss of the Abbot’s past exhortations. Xander would not make her a simple prize. Such assurance came not from his words, or the desires he struggled with containing. It was a special magic, the euphoria of the sacred and profane fear of what disloyalty meant to them both. A bond built upon passion, possession and a loyalty built by centuries of honesty and intervention.

Easing on her back in sheets which defied logic for their pristine comfort, Zarah let the breeze bathe her red cheeks. The evening came and went, now the new bride rested in her nightgown and stretched herself awake.

“Xander?” Was he already gone?

 

[Judah Lesan]

The moon gave way to daylight, bringing a respite to the day before. It’s events had seen the reclamation of Zarah’s accounts, a planned venture for the day. The day had also seen them wed, an unplanned turn of the day’s agenda, but not an unwelcome one. One thing had become clear in the week the two had spent together, they had each captured each other’s affections. The agreement had been they would wed had they managed to create a desire for each other, and beyond they both knew it was the case. Even the abbot could not disuade Zarah from marrying the scoundrel king, but she held her determination strong.

The night had been more than either of them could have expected. Xander learned a long time ago to never have expectations, but the flirting and banter had created curiosity at least. The king refused any sleep until his curiosity had been fully satisfied, though when he allowed it, sleep came quickly. There was something Xander felt that had not been there in a long time, peace. It was a lie he’d been taught, but for the moment he’d accept its deception.

Xander stirred at the calling of his name. Usually he’d be awake early enough to leave the woman to an empty bed, but this was his wife. Zarah was not some evening distraction that came and went. He was supposed to enjoy her company, and she has certainly given him reason to. It was more than obligation, more than fulfilling an agreement. As Xander rolled onto his side to look at his bride, he knew she’d caltured him.

”Did you sleep well, Lady Blackmoore,” he found some fun in this little game of theirs.

His lips pressed a kiss to hers. He rest his forehead on hers when it broke for a moment. They needed food, and Xander had no shame. Climbing out of the bed, Xander moved to the comm fully bare. Pressing the button Xander made a simple command.

”The lady and I will be having breakfast in the chamber here.”

Xander turned to his bride.

”Was this as revolting to you as the idea was to you eight centuries ago? You did not wake up with any regrets I hope?”

[member="Zarah Viren"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

Peace was a lie, but passion could be draped in pleasant stillness. The issue Zarah held against the Jedi was as always their repulsion at experiencing and accepting negative emotions existed. By claiming peace through detachment, they severed their ties, severed their ability to enact truly fantastic and beneficial events. Xander was no more a being of peace than Zarah was capable of looking upon her people with detachment.

Xander turned, the crinkling of fabric around his body brushing across Zarah’s ears. Her lips tipped up in the corners. She brushed his hair away from his face, resting her thumb by his ear. The indecently sensual life of Xander Blackmoore was far from secret, Zarah always knew him to be a frivolous man in the art of affection. To feel into the atomic particles of her being that he belonged to her, that Xander resided now as part of her was to feel the universe in synch.

“Better than I have slept in an age, Lord Viren. Better, in fact, than our rendezvous against the chill... once slumber took us, that is.” The cold which struck her so fervently since awakening drifted off to another planet, another being. All Zarah had, all she wanted revealed itself in the kiss Xander placed upon her lips. His forehead collided gently with hers and Zarah moaned, jousting with her nose on his cheek.

“Oh! My goodness!” Zarah threw the coverlet over her eyes as Xander walked bereft of clothing through their bedroom.

How terribly odd for a woman to consider her bedroom half belonging to another. Throwing a balled up sheet at Xander, Zarah cuddled into the bed.

She may have peeked... oh the new bride most definitely peeked. Turning about and caring for his ‘Lady’ seemed as natural as rising with the sun, and Zarah didn’t care to spoil his decision with a want for the decadence of a proper dining hall. If she were vocal, in truth, Zarah felt the burning desire to stay in her marriage bed. And not solely for the delightful ache, which radiated through her. Sleep came quickly to the octocentarian, yet rest? Rest entirely escaped her. Curling beside Xander in her frigid state gave her body a restorative sleep paralleled only by the slumber from which she only recently awoke. Rest, true and health-bringing, seemed to attach itself to Zarah’s proximity to the roguish King who now threatened to maintain his presence in her bed. A little over a week was far too short a time to recover, yet Zarah refused on principle to allow Xander the knowledge of how tired and worn his new wife felt. She would above all put on the contented and brave face of a woman who believed her illness a temporary state upon which no fuss was due.

“My only regret is not the preemptive purchase of a gentleman’s robe!” Zarah’s laugh was muffled by the sheet in front of her eyes, which she shut and blinked open in turn.

The laughter faded for a gentle sigh. Zarah pushed up with a timid groan to sit in bed, telekinetically fluffing her pillow behind her as she leaned on the headboard. Linen bed sheets and duvet rested around her, framing a frail body and pale skin. The buttery yellow of her nightgown cast a glow her recovering skin didn’t currently possess.

“I must send a thank you to all the coquettes whom you practiced on, if I am the sole receiver of such benefits. I neither regret my reticence over the function of marriage nor my joining into it now, at the proper time.” Zarah folded her hands in front of her, hair cascading around her shoulders in lazy auburn curls. “Do you regret, my darling? Or are you celebrating your final conquering of a Viren to wife?”

[member="Darth Vizios"]

 

[Judah Lesan]

Xander turned and winked at Zarah's exasperation. If she thought he was going to spare her from the immodesty of a man who was free and unashamed about being uncovered, she was mistaken. Zarah was now his wife, and she had more than seen him the night before. There was still an innocence to her, but it would fade. It was Xander's mission to ensure that it would.

"There is no more need for a robe than there is for the gown which hides your beaty from my eyes," Xander teased as he returned to her, pulling his shorts from the floor and putting them on for her sake. "Even with the fact your body still shows the signs of your hybernation it is a wonderland to be worshiped and explored."

Naturally his silver tongue was not needed to flatter her in their chase. Xander had captured his prize, yet he found that he wanted to flatter her. It was an odd feeling. Most women proved useless after a night spent with them, but Zarah offered him something different. The feeling, passion, love, that was in the painting had not yet been acheived. The night had been passionate, Xander would not argue against that fact, but they both knew they had not captured the sensation of the painting. Was Xander disappointed, he didn't know whether to be or not. What Xander did know was that he had no designs to leave the woman which was now his wife. His faithfulness in pledge for her hand, that had been their agreement if Xander could successfully woo her.

"Many of them are no longer among the living. Such a pursuit would be a fruitless one. Might I suggest you simply enjoy the fact you have me all to yourself, and that I am now loathe to taste the fruit of any other garden."

His response was clear. Xander not only enjoyed himself, but he was satisfied. There was no need to look for another, not need to wander. If Zarah was intent on giving him a reason to remain with her, there was nothing more for her to attmept.

"There are no regrets in my decision, nor the fact it has only been a week since I found you again. I have not simply succeded in finding a Viren to make my wife, but the one which was forbidden. How can I regret such a thing? Are you concerned that I would so easily cast you aside for another now that I have had you in my bed? No... I can say with full confidence that I shall never have need for another woman to occupy my bed ever again."

There was a knock at the door, a cart of refreshments had been made for them. Xander answered, Zarah likely happy he did not do so as nude as he had been moments before. He thanked the attendant and wheeled the fruits, breads, cheeses, and hard boiled eggs closer to the bed.

"Now, eat. I will not see my wife looking frail when she makes to command her people. You will be imposing, fit, and have teh strength to match."

[member="Zarah Viren"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

Innocence hid in a mind resplendent with despicable acts and cunning. This last vestige of her maiden state refused to die softly in their nuptial night, nor would it fade come morning. Xander had, above all, much more work to do.

“Will your gaze keep me warm, Lord Viren? The gown also hides the shivering cold from my skin.” Zarah teased back, raising an eyebrow in triumph as he partially robed. Those violet eyes narrowed as Xander made mention of her physical condition. Her eyelids burned with fatigue, fingers clutched in her lap, twining together in a mesh. Gaze cast down on the sheets swollen around her thin body, Zarah sighed.

Perhaps it would have been a stronger noise if she had the strength. “Flattery, my darling husband… need you exaggerate? I feel terrible enough for what you’re forced to call yours… for the moment I… I don’t know. How lucky to be able to usurp their meaningless place with such… essential longevity. Thank you, Xander. It must not have been an easy decision for you to follow, I promise I shall strive to make every moment worth your ever present while.”

Another mark of honesty was the refusal to hide her inner thoughts and emotions. Not knowing was as hard a task as knowing too much, and for Zarah to misunderstand or be ignorant of her own physical condition was to doubt the very foundation of her new life. “I’m quite glad for your decision to have our morning repast in bed… although I have not eaten in bed in my entire life. What a treat.”

The knowledge wrought from Xander’s words sunk into Zarah with an unintended, but gentle rebuke. There had been a moment where Zarah wondered whether Xander remained in their marriage bed, or if he had disappeared. Could she be blamed for such thoughts, when the man she married was so virulently known? Yet, Xander was a man of honour. That honour was built upon his own definition, yet it existed and it was one of the many reasons why Zarah saw the love and enticement of the painting beginning to grow. Any weakling indecision or doubt died, poisoned utterly by the fervour of his words. “Your confidence is a delight, my love… I was concerned yesterday. There was a moment of doubt, but you obliterated it with how dedicatedly and… well, shall I say more than I am contented that my sensual experience began not in some clumsy fumbling, but a true master at the art of pleasing his wife. Being worth the best, I waited and got him.”

She shut her eyes and covered her face with a hand as Xander answered the door in nothing but his shorts. A petite gurgle exited her lips at the sheer shock and embarrassment which must have ensued for the person who brought their repast. Easing herself to the edge of the bed, Zarah reached for an irli, and bit into it without complaint.

“How shall I best apologize for my present fragility, darling? ShallI buy you some fantastic bauble, or decipher the first in a legion of targets you get to do away with as you wish? A negotiation on your behalf with [member="Chiara Viren"], perhaps? To ease the passing from troublemaker to cousin?” A pale hand reached for Xander’s arm, tugging it around her back so she could cuddle into her husband’s side. “Or shall I simply eat my gargantuan fill of bread and cheese? Give you a run for your stamina as well as your money?”

Propping her chin on his bare chest after kissing his skin, Zarah glanced up to Xander’s stormy and elegant face. “Do I look so worryingly fragile that you bear even a small concern? I had hoped to hide any possible worry.”

[member="Darth Vizios"]

 

[Judah Lesan]

"My gaze would not, unfortunately, keep your body warm."

They could play, but the truth was the cold was from more than just being cold. Her body was still frail, and the chill seeped through her skin much easier than it would had she not exhibited some atrophe from the hibernation. Much of her form had been preserved, but the lack of use had allowed her muscles to get lazy.

His words about the other women had not been meant as a rebuke, but Xander saw how it could have been taken as such. Having wed they did not need to focus their attention on his past. He could see how such a thing could drive a wedge between them. Xander wanted his focus to be on their relationship, and the many ways he could please his wife when it came to their intimate moments together. She was not a conquest, rather the sole object of his desire and affection.

"Never? My love you have not lived until you have learned of the lazy joy which comed from eating in bed." Xander chuckled as Zarah took something for herself. "Eat your fill, and then some. We have just wed and have nothing calling us to leave this bed until we are good and ready to."

Despite the idea some nobles could be lazy, Xander and Zarah were not. Both enjoyed living a disciplined routine which had been part of both upbringing and Sith training. A break was needed on occasion, and this was a prime and most opportune time for them. If Zarah wanted to remain lazy for the day, Xander would not complain. A smile broke on his face as the woman dared to challenge his stamina. His mind was focused on only one meaning of the comment as she leaned into him.

"How could I complain at any attempt you would have to try and outpace me today. Though I would think such a thing would leave you burning more calories than taking in. Still if you would like to try..."

Xander shook his head at the last question. She did not look worryingly fragile. He simply knew what they had planned, and she would not be able to keep up with those plans if she did not recover from her hybernation.

"Our wedding, as much as I am happy, has accelerated our timeline. Certain things which could have waited cannot wait now. My concern is not worry, but rather that you have all the time you need to be in peak physical condition. There will come a point where you will have to get your hands as dirty as mine are, and will be, for us to gain what we want."

A deep sigh escaped the Sith King.

"The road we have set ourselves on is not going to be easy, but at least we can draw on the consolation that our covenant brings to us. I am with you, you are with me. We are one from this moment forward. No matter what happens along the way, we have that confidence."

He kissed her forehead before tossing a small grape into his mouth.

"Regardless, the first of our worries is going to be Chiara. She will not have a stoic reaction to the news of our marriage."

[member="Zarah Viren"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“More’s the pity, I wish it would.” Radiant cold flooded her. Pristine in its’ efficiency to cut through even the warmest cloth. Would she ever be free of it, or did the chill of the carbonite remain as a curse upon her body and soul for the rest of her existence? The moment he called her ‘his love’, Zarah’s cheeks brushed with a pale pink, her lips quirking up at the edges. Shifting in the bed to give [member="Darth Vizios"] more room, Zarah propped her chin on his bare shoulder and let the burden of her former worries relax off her body and away. An idiosyncratic security filled her bone marrow, bringing the confidence of their decision to the blood in her veins. Efforts no longer had to be made to win him, but the greatest effort laid at his table to honour and respect Xander the rest of their lives.

“Pssh! Surely it’s not as divine as you say! Think of the crumbs.” Zarah laughed, brushing off the sheets as she settled back to sit against the headboard. The yellow nightgown slid down Zarah’s slightly emaciated shoulder, as she leaned to take a plate of fruit, eggs and bread. Pulling the bread apart in her hands, she popped a piece in her mouth and chewed with a smirk. “That is lovely… I feel so devious. Breakfast in bed. The luxury of it all!”

Nestled up beside Xander, Zarah found a healthy appetite settle inside her, awakened by their night and the security of their morning. It had been centuries since Zarah felt cared for by a tangible person and not the disembodied Force. The swells of energy which lofted her upon their waves and rescued her from countless insanities was impersonal, inhuman. In its’ bounty she was not Zarah, she was no Duchess or human or person at all. ‘She’ was merely a strain of its’ inner tapestry, a single thread woven in consistent and unimportant colours off to the side of something far more grand. While some who awoke might have felt the past as an occurrence some week before, Zarah both felt the penalty of her age, and the joy of surrendering so long to the Force which maintained her. A man who promised to remain by her side commanded her stomach to be filled, for the current plenty he could offer to double over, heal and increase. Although it was but a simple suggestion for the morning after a vigorous night, to Zarah Xander’s twice comment that she eat and renew herself was the acceptance of a body and a personhood as much as a moment of instinctual practicality. He would not have his wife frail and weakened. He would extol her, strengthen and provide for her that she may grow and become a beautiful and resplendent Queen. Zarah indeed ate her fill, curled up and cosy beside her husband. Working Nobility was not an oxymoron where they were from. The tasks of governing and providing for the material and educational integrity of one’s people was absolute of one’s time, and any true noble grew with the responsibility in their bloodstream alongside the red and white blood cells. As it was, Zarah lived a life of chaste abstinence and underconsumption. Yes, she had the gowns (most tailored hand-me-downs of her mother’s or Aunt’s), the family jewels (generations old), the estate, the status, but the food Zarah ate was simple, mostly grown on the rooftop terrace gardens or farmed as near as possible. She ate meat rarely, as it was expensive for the most part to bring from off-world. Importing as little as possible for the Royal Table meant living with sometimes creatively prepared and scant meals, but it was as ever a matter of pride to most, and a matter of cooperation with her people. While Chiara felt no desire to live nearly as stringently, Zarah wondered if her cousin ever truly knew the material sacrifices Zarah made over the years to maintain the stability of House Viren, and to impact their people for the better. As it was, resting in bed on what could otherwise be a productive day, eating fresh fruit, eggs, breads, treats, it was a high luxury indeed.

“You could no sooner complain than I could over the diligence in which you ordered our breakfast. How luxurious it would be if we had a cake. Even a small one, then I could take in more than I burnt… oh it’s too much! Far too much luxury… although an attempt may have to be made if we are to laze in bed all day.” Zarah hid her smile under her hair, leaning away until the fit of excess passed. While she had quite the sum of money in the bank, Zarah knew in the back of her mind that restoring Chandaar would take up the vast sum of it, aside from what she could invest for future generations.

“All the time I need. How long is that? Do we have the hour and minute where my body will simply tick over?” Zarah set her empty plate back to the cart with a wave of her hand, and searched Xander’s face. The truth laid before them in her pale skin and shivering muscles. True recovery was farther off than a few days, yet Zarah would not face that reality with the same honesty. “My people suffer, Xander. I have felt their increasing suffering for these long centuries and it worries me, but I don’t know why. Shall I lay here, supping on the orchards of Naboo in paradisiacal bliss while my Chandaari go without? You know me, Xander, you know I cannot enjoy a plenty they have no access to. That has always been my priority, I may not be their Queen, but I shall be their mother if nothing else… oh there I am again, too hard on myself and ready to draw a line in stone… I am tired. Run down and worn thin by the dashed black ice… I worry a little, of recovery. How long will recuperation take? The unknown quantity of time plays out as a song on repeat in the back of my mind and I am ill of it. I wish to click my fingers and be well.” Zarah snapped her fingers and looked around with a shrug. “Perhaps I shall attempt it in another day or so. Perhaps all I need is a few good meals, plenty of exercise and another few days rest… then, my love, I shall give you that thorough outpacing.”

A waggle of her eyebrows and Zarah set herself across his lap, cuddling her head on his shoulder, nose nuzzled under his chin. She mewled contented with the present circumstance and shivered only slightly as the balmy spring breeze flowed through their warm suite. His skin burned from an inner warmth, pleasant and radiant.

“It is an amazing confidence, to know absolutely I have you at my side. You can massage the callouses on my hands after I wash off the blood of our enemies.”

Leaning back with her chin tilted up, Zarah closed her eyes and hissed out a long exhale. “Chiara… how large of a seizure will she have is the question which comes to mind. I expect one part livid, two parts disbelief, one half part threatening you and one half part breaking out the blossom wine. Keep your guard up lest she stab you, but I do believe she’ll eventually succumb to the charm of being your cousin… it’s her father I worry of, if it is as you say and [member="Manu Xextos"] is the Lord of Sabarene, it is now a place of Light and he does not bandy with the Dark, nor does he handle it with a dainty hand.”

 

[Judah Lesan]

”This is your burden, but you must let me help you carry it. I cannot tell you how long until your body knows the vigor it once did. However if last night is any indication you have little worry as to it being a long process.”

Xander waggled his brows unable to contain the joy he felt in having a bride that was able to please him. They were a match to be sure, but Zarah was being the pragmatic one. There was more to life than lazing around in bed all day for days on end. It had been some time since the king had taken time to indulge in a lazy day, and it would not be a thing for him to do today.

Zarah and Xander both are their fill of the foods before them. He would at least teach the woman to indulge a little every now and then. The strength of their rule would come from the strength of their bond. Xander would not let them neglect each other for the sake of their people. That would be a foolish endeavor. A smile crept across his face as the woman came across his lap and nuzzled into him. This was all he’d ever wanted from House Viren, a woman to have as his. His exploits had hindered such a thing for a long time, but the man had what he had long since wanted. He had found it in Zarah.

”In fact I think Chiara shall hug you and praise you from rescuing her from a lifetime of being called my wife. The idea was never one she liked, and I believe she would have rather ended her life than be called Lady Blackmoore. Perhaps your confidence will help her with what we seek to accomplish.”

Xander took the back of Zarah’s head and put her forehead to his. His lips brushed against hers. His nose took in the scent of his bride and he smiled again.

”We shouldn’t impose on the abbot’s kindness for too long. Might I suggest some of the exercise and then we be off to see your cousin. The sooner we do this, the better. We need her to help with Manu.”

[member="Zarah Viren"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

Help in bearing her burden? Zarah’s eyebrows worked as she stared up into her husband’s face. Was that marriage, then? A marriage based on affection, aside from duty? “Oh Xander, your constant flattery batters well against my stubborn, prideful battlements. I shall allow your aide in my burdens only if you allow my aide in yours. Which, should I ponder back, is precisely why I was accepted into your Household once I awoke, was it not?”

His smile was as infectious as his radiant heat. The Duchess could not staunch the joy growing in her soul, the defeater of her solitudinous and lonely ache. Moaning softly in his arms, she let her eyes shut and for a moment it appeared as if Xander’s bride would nod off completely.

A throaty chuckle betrayed her wakened state. “Ended your life more likely. Chiara would have razed your ash to quarks to avoid the duties and joys I cuddle happily into now.”

How uncontainable, how odd for two creatures of decrepit dark to linger in a pose of affection and the instilling of a sprouting love. As Zarah felt Xander’s forehead on her own, she delighted in the release of old pains it conquered. Xander was a perilous prince, the lord of all he witnessed and in love too, he conquered Zarah’s hesitations. With little defence but an awakening sense of need, Zarah kissed him.

“Agreed. His kindness, compensated by our commitment to the Brotherhood, is magnanimous nonetheless. We shall always be known as courteous, thus a sense of noble loyalty can be sustained. As for exercise… a Lady can nary recover without plenty of it.” Zarah waggled her eyebrows and grinned, shifting to straddle her groom’s waist in her nightgown.

Fade​

Lu Sii took to the gardens of the Brotherhood of Cognizance, and the statue of Abhayaradha with the respect of a nun. The young woman, once called for, entered the Blcakmoore-Viren’s chamber as a supplicant entered the sacristy. She dressed Zarah in a flowing pale green gown with cascading lace flowers meant more for ease of travel than the binding corsetry upon which Cronese Royal fashion used to be built. Atop the dress, a hunter green travelling coat. Zarah’s hair was swept up in a simple, but fetching crown braid for one purpose alone.

While her ring finger was adorned with her deceased mother-in-law’s wedding ring, Zarah had fixed into her hair the Duchess’ coronet, and the corresponding necklace, earrings and bracelet of her royal station. The ring of House Viren’s Chandaari Duchy fit upon her thumb, sparkling with a single sapphire in a bed of gold crafted to appear as a kraft dragon clutching the one jewel.

The Duchess of Chandaar parted ways with the Abbot with a private word, and gift wrapped in chersilk. He blessed them both, in grief and in joy, and gave to [member="Darth Vizios"] a singular word of wisdom and the easiest passage through tempestuous space to Sabarene. He pressed a data chit into Xander’s hand, and put his aging hand on the King’s shoulder. “Pass through the echo of Rand on your way, but not Rand itself… I fear you too have business with the Sorcerers, but not yet. Above all, care for your wife. She is fragile of more than body… do not heed Rand’s call until the proper time. I can see its’ mark upon her, as it was once upon Abhayaradha, who, being a creature of Light was tormented by the chaos of the Sorcerers. I know its’ shadow. Find it in your soul to allow for both the passions of the Dark, and the love of a spouse which can only be carried by the Light which lingers even still in you. It is not a dichotomy of opposites, but an opportunity to balance and control the tempest within. Fare well. Protect her.”

Once more upon Xander’s ship, Zarah sat upon the couch of the living area, while Lu Sii busied about with the additional provisions the Brotherhood gave them, fresh fruit, blossom wine and honey mead. She chittered about this and that, about the flowers and how kind the Brotherhood was to let her sit in on their meditations while the wedded couple were occupied. Eventually drifting off to her small quarters to study, Lu Sii left the couple alone.

“The Abbot seemed desperate to speak with you, what about, I wonder?” Zarah asked, sipping blossom wine and glancing up from the book across her lap.

 

[Judah Lesan]

Dense and calloused fingers worked at the buttons which were attached to Xander's tunic. He wore a proud smirk on his face after the little effort it took to convince his newlywed bride they needed to make good use of their bed one last time before leaving the monks to themselves. Yes, the man was proud of himself for securing Zarah as a bride and knowing he could have her whenever he wished. It was a joy that his philandering could never bring him, and a joy he would always be loathe to part with.

His eyes drank in the dress she chose to travel in. He nodded in approval before offering his arm. There were times a look could say more than words, and Xander deemed this to be one of those times. It was more for her comfort and the fact they were heading to see her cousin, but Xander could not help but think in part Zarah wanted to dress for him as well.

It was time to depart, and Xander was thankful for the Abbot's blessing, but as he turned to leave he felt the elderly man's hand grip his arm. Xander froze, nearly reacting as he would in battle, but this man was one of peace.

His words sent a chill down Xander's spine. It was cold, like death, pale and unforgiving. He was a dark sider, one who used fear as a weapon, not its victim. Even Xander felt fear at what the Abbot said, what he implied. Zarah would not hear of this, not yet. Had the Abbot meant the words for her, she would have been standing with him now.

Xander composed himself and buried the thoughts deep where even Zarah could not find them through the intimate bond they had formed.

She asked.

"He just wanted to give us the best route to be on our way. I'll inform the pilot and we shall be off."

It was his best attempt to shove it off. Xander disappeared into the cockpit for a moment and informed the pilots of the destination, and when he returned to the lounge, he was nothing but smiles.

"Let us see this cousin of yours. The look on her face will be one I am looking forward to seeing."

The engines powered up, and they were off.

[member="Zarah Viren"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

Not only did Zarah feel much more comfortable in the Naboo style gown, but it did indeed and confoundingly so, attracted her husband’s eye. How odd that Xander’s eyes on her shifter Zarah’s resolve so. How tricky and how unabashed. The woman realized she could enjoy such exclusive eyes upon her.

“What route are we taking if it caused you to pale so?” Zarah’s eyelids narrowed only slightly, as she continued her state of composure on the couch. Her book lowered on her lap, Xander seemed less pale once he’d returned from the cockpit. “Were we to be in danger? Or had he simply given you some scant wisdom which froze your now monogamous bones?”

Had he descended to a lie now in this married state? Pausing long enough to pick up her book again, Zarah sipped more blossom wine and perched her eyes upon the page. Vicious plagues and wars decimated populations faster than a voorpah after its dinner.

Her lips quirked in an uncontrollable smirk as she watched him over the edge of her peripheral vision and attempted to read more of the history since her frozen state. Xander’s countenance and form opened for her eyes. The new bride cleared her throat and quelled the delighted smirk. Although she was again exhausted, Zarah felt a flush of energy in her cheeks, and she continued to read.

“Shall we film it, my darling? Play it when we require amusement, or shall we simply ensure you wear armour when you descend the gangplank to your near death? How do we plan to ease her?” Zarah shut her book and set it aside, pressing her hand to the seat beside her.

“Chiara hates you. Incredulous as she is, how do we do this? Walk side by side and wait until she sees the rigs, or do we control her process of the information now? Tell her before we land? No... no, that would be less than wise. She knows we are henceforth on the way, perhaps over supper? Or perhaps...” Zarah looked to the vault in Xander’s chamber and clenched her jaw.

“Perhaps a modicum of bribery... perhaps...” The crown of Cron. Zarah could not open her lips to say it, to admit what her mind knew to be the right option.

“Must I humble myself once again? For a clone? Alas, it may be best... it may mean the most to enter [member="Chiara Viren"]’s company and bow my knee, after all we will be surrounded by those who love her... oh why can I not be proud and fit to be so? Must I always bend my knee to my little cousin? What do you think, Xander? It may be the best way to smooth our marriage over.” The intent to kneel, to once again put herself as Chiara’s subservient was a hard gash on Zarah’s pride. Yet... what else was there to be done? She had to give her groom a fair chance to be seen as he became, not as the lecherous man he was.

[member="Darth Vizios"]