Filthy Peasants Everywhere [Nemene Talith]

[Nikolas Faselli]

(credit: Murat Aral)​

​

Filthy Peasants Everywhere
Theed
Royal Lounge
[member="Nemene Talith"]

---

What is the life of a noble person? It's a life in luxury, a wonderful one. And Maria was lucky to be one of them. Her cousin being a famous person in the galaxy, as well the ruler of Panatha, she being the lady of Arx Mortis. Wasn't it a wonderful life? She had slaves doing everything for her and she would have had to do nothing herself. But she had decided to do.

Now sitting in the Royal Lounge, a club for royal people in the city of Theed on a wonderful planet called Naboo, she understood how much better the noble life is. Simple people had to try as hard as possible to manage their lives, yet all the people in the lounge has easy lives, had no worries about money or anything. Maybe moral things were a problem for them...

"... And I would say I made life so much easier for them," says a noble lady from the corner of the room. She's sitting there with another random lady, just discussing how their planets' politics function.

"So you are trying to say that when you were elected as the leader, slavery disappeared? I don't believe that... It never truly disappears," talks the second lady. I looks like they do not support each other at all. But of course, it's not Maria's problem.

She, instead, sits in the middle of the room on a comfy chair which is perfect for her 'sensitive' skin, and just enjoys the warm cup of coffee she is drinking. Nobody sits next to her, but that's OK. It's her first time in the lounge and she doesn't know many other nobilities over here.

"... I was mentioned in today's news. I was honoured over there. They say I brought the golden age upon my people, but I am not entirely sure about that. If they would only know what a struggle it is to keep them safe and give them happy lives... And the society is far from being perfect. They are just too... well, I would say... peasants to understand it," comes a female voice from behind Maria. Yes, there is another bunch of people talking to each other, casually chatting.

There are not too many people in the place at that time, only something near ten. But most of them know each other and their personalities just don't let them be silent all the time, so it feels like there are at least twenty people in the room.

But it doesn't matter to Maria. She came here for the biscuits. And lunch. They have great lunches in the place.

Ah, this place is what I would call home...

​

​

 

[Lira Dajenn]

Nemene walked through the palace of Theed, soft silks rustling slightly and heels clicking as she moved. Naboo was not her kind of world, it was pretty, rich, and of course culturally sound, but there was something colloquially...good about it. Naboo was a world filled good men and women who wanted what was best for their world. That was not what Nemene was all about, she wanted what was best for her.

Of course, despite this general atmosphere on Naboo there was a place that was decidedly more selfish.

The Royal Lounge on Theed. The place was filled with royals, from Kings, to Queens to Dukes. The place was absolutely stuffed with her people. It was here that she went, to visit with her people.

The atmosphere inside of the lounge was rich and filled with culture. There was Art, tea, food, and of course slaves, everything royals could ever wish for was within this lounge and Nemene found herself feeling completely at home as she wandered through the expansive halls and lounge room. She made her way to one of the slaves holding a tray. Grasping a small cup form the tray Nemene took a sip of her tea, eying those in the room and spotting a woman with raven hair, much like her own.

Slowly the Queen of Rattatak wandered over to the lone woman, careful measured steps and finding a seat opposite her.

“Hello.” Nemene greeted her pleasantly as she took a sip of her tea.

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

All the noises of the room - even though it was a royal one, it sounded like a peasant one - turned into a constant mass on the background when the simple 'hello' word which was directed to Maria was heard. She understood it was for her, even though she didn't look at the woman who had spoken it. No. Maybe it was her instincts, the Force, or just natural understanding.

"Oh, hello!" the Witch of Arx Mortis answered to the woman while she turned her a bit to look this woman into her eyes. She was most likely a noble like everybody else in the room, yet still different from them. Maybe she was from a harsh world?

She rose from her seat, standing at her full height of two metres, her black v-neck dress which ended at her knees fully visible. The heels she wore made her even taller, so she was clearly one of the tallest people in the room. The other woman was clearly a lot shorter.

"Come, take a seat!" was a polite phrase which came from the mouth of Maria's, while her left hand was moved towards the left seat, showing that the place is free. She was a noble, so being rude was not something she enjoyed. While it is true that she can have no manners in many situations, it was not one of these. It was the Royal Lounge, not a simple bar in the edge of the galaxy.

Light from the windows shined into the room and it made the already golden ornaments seem even shinier. The whole room was full of luxury, not like the citadel Maria had, but more like a real royal room. It was not a place which was made following Maria's preferences, so she had no right to raise her voice about its look, but she would have personally changed some

But it did not matter. What truly mattered was the current moment.

[member="Nemene Talith"]

 

[Lira Dajenn]

“Thank you.” Nemene's words were smooth and easy and without further ado she took a seat opposite Maria. There was something about the woman that was vaguely familiar, the way her face appeared and the way she looked in general, though Nemene couldn't quite place it. She looked at her inquisitively for only a moment before shaking her head slightly and taking a sip of her drink. There was no use dwelling on it.

“I'm terribly sorry.” She actually sounded apologetic. “I Am Nemene Athaem Talith.”

She added no royal titles, there was no point. Everyone in this lounge was royalty of some sort, noble and of high birth. Throwing around titles could be seen as a challenge of some sort, and Nemene had no intention of challenging anyone for dominance.

She was here to make friends and allies, not to stir up problems.
[member="Maria Natalja"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

When the woman sat down, Maria followed. She tried to find her comfortable position again, but couldn't find it, so she just sat like she had landed. It was better not to start wiggling around the chair. It would have been extremely rude and told the other woman of her bad manners. The Witch of Arx Mortis would have never wanted that to happen.

“I'm terribly sorry. I Am Nemene Athaem Talith," she heard the woman saying. What is she sorry for?

"There is no need to be sorry," she spoke, and then took a sip of her own coffee before continuing, "Nice to meet you, Nemene. May I call you just 'Nemene'?" She had to be sure. It would have been kind of awkward if she wouldn't have been allowed to refer to her with only her first name.

She waited for the answer before she added, "I am Maria Natalja Zambrano."

[member="Nemene Talith"]

 

[Lira Dajenn]

“I should have introduced myself sooner.” Nemene chirped happily, as though the mistake did not really matter either way. She smiled at the woman, and took another sip.

Her smile instantly dissipated when the woman said her last name. Nemene had a distaste for that name, and usually for those who carried it. She tried to hide that for a few moments however, and instead looked at the woman with an inclined eyebrow, trying to show curiosity and not distaste.

“You wouldn't happen to be related to Kaine Zambrano?” It was hard to keep the bite form her tongue. Nemene did not like Kaine Zambrano. The man had done things to her sister that she disliked to her very core, never mind that he was her father, that didn't matter. Ever since Nemene had learned of these things though she had despised Kaine, considering him a cheap imitation of a Sith, much less a man.

Somewhere at the back of her mind she hoped she had payed Maria no insult, that would not go over well.
[member="Maria Natalja"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"Yes, I am, actually," Maria spoke just like it had been a compliment. It wasn't faked, nor was it sarcasm. She really felt like it had been kind of a compliment. "But I am not much like him. Sometimes I even despise him for what he does." One of such things was his hatred of their aunt who had left the family and joined another house. Kaine had seemed to be really angry at her for just changing her real last name, even though it shouldn't have been much of a matter. Just a simple name change everybody does.

She moved her body a bit not to feel much discomfort. It was not too polite to lean to the chair's back, but she couldn't help herself. But there it was. After some time of slowly wiggling around, sometimes stopping for a moment and then continuing, she had found a comfortable position. She was not leaning on the seat's back, but nor did she feel uncomfortable.

Success.

She did not know what Nemene was thinking after all, so she was not prepared for what may come from the woman.

[member="Nemene Talith"]

 

[Lira Dajenn]

Nemene sat with a straight back, a slight frown on her face. Her drink swished around in its cup as she shook slightly, rage built in her, but only for a moment before it quickly dissipated. Again it gave her no profit to be angry here, no gain in being angry at this woman for nothing but her family name.

“My Sister is a Zambrano.” Well...not anymore. “His daughter, Evelynn.”

Again there was a slight bite to those words, as if Nemene did not quite want to admit that such a thing was a fact. Of course when she said the word sister, it was not implying a blood bond, but rather a close relationship between herself and Evelynn. She hoped that Maria would infer that from context clues. Family lineage was an important thing to her, mostly because it was what she had been taught by her own father, it hurt her to think that Evelynn spawned from Kaine, mostly because of the hate she felt for him.

It was oddly hypocritical of her of course, she had done far worse things to her own Sister than Kaine ever had, but that was neither here nor there. To Nemene's twisted mind, she was never wrong.

“Though I suspect he is rather displeased with her now.” That brought a smile to her face, he would be very displeased.
[member="Maria Natalja"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"Hmm... May I ask, what has she done for such displease?" Maria asked, seemingly interested in the subject. Evelynn... She had heard that name before. She had not met her yet, but she had heard of her. Maybe one day, they would even meet. Maybe. If they were both Zambranos, it would have been more than just a dream.

Knowing Kaine, she knew most likely everything could have actually made her be displeased in somebody, even a simple wrong line would have been not to his liking, causing chaos. But she was not there to judge her lovely cousin, though. It was not good to do such things, especially considering the fact that he could easily kill her.

Another sip of the wonderful hot coffee and the cup was nearly empty. She would have to fill it again. Soon, though. She couldn't have done that at that moment as it wouldn't have been polite to leave like that, even just for a short time.

[member="Nemene Talith"]

 

[Lira Dajenn]

Nemene looked at her nails for a moment, as if inspecting something that truly didn't matter.

“She renounced his name.” To her it was the simplest thing to say, as if it was something that had always been planned, as though it were something that was destined to happen from the start. A smile grew on her face however, and Nemene looked up to watch Maria's reaction.

She took careful measure not to actually insult Maria or her family, or Kaine for that matter. That would have been entirely rude. No, instead she would gauge Maria's reaction to her words, and see what she had to say about Kaine's own daughter renouncing him.

A thought crept into her head. She actually had no idea what the womans own relation to Kaine was, for all she knew, Maria was another daughter.

She waited, holding her breath slightly.
[member="Maria Natalja"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

Maria was shocked.

The cup she had still held in her hand fell down, falling on the floor, shattering into a few pieces. Her face was full of shock, surprise, and a bit of fear; it was difficult to understand what it actually was.

But she was not shocked as much by the overall thing, but more because of her own feelings. She had been sure the whole Zambrano family is perfect and only she is a bad member of it, meaning that she shouldn't be with others (that was also a reason why she still lived in the Arx Mortis citadel and not in the Vain Hallow).

But Evelynn, a daughter of Kaine, had abandoned her name. Not Maria, but Evelynn.

"That's... surprising," Maria spoke. The thing was, that Maria herself didn't feel like keeping her family name, either. Not because she hated the family, no. But there was something more behind it. She felt like she would never be a member of the family because of a simple thing.

It was better not to tell it to Nemene as she had already sensed presence of the Dark Side, most likely coming from her.

[member="Nemene Talith"]

 

[Lira Dajenn]

The reaction brought a smile to her face, though she didn't comment on the dropped cup. A servant scurried over to the two of them and immediately began to clean up the mess. Nemene watched the young woman for a moment, and then returned her eyes to Maria, her smile was cool and confident. If this conversation had been a battle, Nemene just gained the upper hand.

“Not at all.” Nemene said as she took another sip of her drink. “My Sister has always been headstrong, she simply abandoned a sinking ship”

Slightly insulting, but not overtly so.

Nemene was trying to egg Maria on now, she wanted to know more about the woman. Through the art of conversation one could learn many things, and Nemene intended to learn it all. "I'm surprised he did not tell you."
[member="Maria Natalja"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"Oh, I have not heard of Kaine in some time, maybe that's why. We have kept in contact with each other, but not in the recent times, really. And I guess one reason may be that I haven't met Evelynn yet," Maria said, slowly regaining from her shock. Hadn't Evelynn been like... the perfect Zambrano? It looked like Maria had always been wrong about her. All the things she had heard about her seemed to be a lie.

"So no, she hasn't told me of that," she continued. "There is but one thing that I fear... and it is that my lovely cousin Kaine will have to spend her time alone, away from the family of traitors. And me."

She then turned to a maiden who just stood near a window and gestured her to come over. The maiden walked to the Witch or Arx Mortis quickly.

"Could I have a cup of coffee for me, please?"

[member="Nemene Talith"]

 

[Lira Dajenn]

Nemene chuckled slightly.

So it appeared Maria wasn't one of the ones that spent too much time on Panatha, or at least with Kaine. She wasn't too surprised by this, though she was somewhat pleased. Perhaps Maria could become somewhat of an ally to her. Nemene doubted that she would go against Kaine, but she hardly sounded like his biggest fan either.

The Queen of Rattatak's head tilted to the side slightly, studying the woman in front of her. Nemene was not powerful in the force, and her ability to sense it was almost nothing, but she could tell that Maria was no Sith, or at least one that hid herself well.

That didn't bother her much, the distinction between Sith and Jedi had always meant little to Nemene. A persons personality was what mattered...and if they stood in their way.

It just so happened that more often than not, Jedi stood in her way while Sith encouraged her, though that was as to be expected. “Perhaps, some of you have simply woken up.”

Nemene said in regards to the comment of Tratiors and isolation, offering a warm smile for Maria. An invitation to speak further.
[member="Maria Natalja"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"Woken up? Interesting concept, I must say," Maria spoke, eagerly waiting for her second cup of coffee. "I must say my loyalty to the head of our family has been shaky during these recent times and I do not feel much like being a member of the Zambrano family, either. But there are other reasons behind that, a bit...

Philosophic ones."

Then she smiled for most likely the first time during their conversation. It was strange that she had started so openly speaking about her family, even though she and Nemene had just met. Looked like they got along, unlike most of the times. Maria was not an interesting person, she had to admit sometimes. Most people didn't like spending much time together with her, no matter how hard did she try. Maybe she did not have enough charisma to attract others?

Yet this time, things were different.

[member="Nemene Talith"]

 

[Lira Dajenn]

Nemene chuckled wryly, a smile spreading across her face.

“I suspect philosophy is the root of most family conflict.” She said the words almost sarcastically, but it was not meant to be so. She herself experienced problems with her family. Both of her brothers had widely different views than her own, Sven believed in the good side of people, while Soliael was a cynic to his very core. Nemene of course thought both were rather stupid, and thus their family was not a close one. “What makes you so different?”

She inquired almost off-handed, but she was more than interested in fact.

Nemene almost desperately wanted to know why Maria was not close with Kaine. Why she had never met Evelynn and why she had called herself among the traitors...or at least close to them. The Queen of Rattatak so loved mysteries, and this was quite a good one.
[member="Maria Natalja"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"It..." Maria started speaking, but then stopped. "I think I should not speak of that. At least I shouldn't tell you about that. I'm sorry, it's nothing personal, but just... for my own safety." It was meant to be an apology, but most likely it didn't come out as one. Maria was not too used to apologising.

The cup came to her, the maiden brought it. With a "thank you", Maria took it and without fearing the coffee would be too hot, she took a sip of it. She had been wrong. It was hot, it was terribly hot. Difficult was to keep the scream inside, but Maria managed to do that. It wouldn't have been proper to just start screaming because of such a simple thing. Her facial expression may still have spoken of her burned tongue, and Maria couldn't deny that fact.

She should have felt embarrassed.

Why did I have to do that?

[member="Nemene Talith"]

 

[Lira Dajenn]

She raised an eyebrow.

“Your own safety?” She was slightly insulted, and yet at the same time...not. One might even say she was flattered at the notion of someone actually being afraid of her, she was strange like that. “I would not harm a fly.”

That was a lie, Nemene had slaughtered thousands and tortured hundreds, but she would not be harming a fellow royal, especially one that she had conversed with. The Queen of Rattatak respected people who respected her, and unless they did her personal harm, or meant to damage her affairs, she did not harm them.

Especially if she found them as pleasant as she found the woman before her. “You have nothing to fear from me Maria. Even if you were a Jedi, I would not dare touch you.”

Her soft placid smile told of the truth in her words.
[member="Maria Natalja"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"I guess it's not too dangerous, then..." Maria said, her eyes looking at the floor as she was thinking. "I have started doubting the power of the Dark Side of the Force. Even though my whole family is dedicated to serving their Dark Lords or whatever, I just don't feel like it. Even before meeting Kaine, I... I knew the Bogan is not for me. It felt so... wrong. Yes, I used it, and tried to balance it with the Ashla, I just couldn't keep up with the Darkness.

It demanded more and more evil and I just didn't feel like I can manage that. Only a week ago, maybe, I was not fearing I would betray my family by choosing the other side, I didn't even thought about leaving the Darkness and stepping into the Light... But today, this thought is everything which keeps my mind busy. I am still a Darksider, I think, but I am getting closer to...

... becoming a Jedi."

[member="Nemene Talith"]

 

[Lira Dajenn]

She let out a chuckle, dry and mirthless.

Nemene was hardly surprised by the revelation, when Maria spoke of philosophy she had guessed the woman was speaking about the darkside of the force versus the light. Nemene herself had never cared really, she was not strong enough in the force to really make the distinction between the two. The only thing that mattered to her is that she drew mostly on negative emotions, rather than the purity of the force itself.

That was the only distinction that lay between the two philosophies, at least in her mind.

“My family is much the same. We are all born the darkness, and I myself am what most would consider Sith.” She paused to take a sip of her drink “I believe it is only so because at heart I am a selfish creature. I want what is best for me, and no one else.”

She looked around the room for a moment, studying the fingers before letting orange eyes return to Maria. “The Darkside is selfishness, and that is what I am. Like me, you cannot deny yourself Maria. It will only cause you pain.”

Oh, the manipulation was real.
[member="Maria Natalja"]