Frozen in Time

[Judah Lesan]

Legacy. It was the one thing Xander’s master had pursued. He’d been awake for several years now, and there was nothing of her legacy alive. His had always been in her shadow, but now when there was a change to surpass her, even if in his own mind, Xander was lost. His kingdom was stripped from him. Those he had allied with had done nothing to shape the galaxy. Every decision he had made since coming out of the force stasis was called into question. Xander was losing his confidence.

His ship touched down the only place he had never visited since his awakening. Chandaar had been a world that held memories of broken treaties, failed attempts to create his own allegiances, and thoughts of spurned feelings which never made sense to start with. Chandaar was the scene of the re-emergance of Chiara Viren, the rightful heir, but Xander has not been there to see it. What was more the princess was found by him naked and alone, frozen. She had moved on, still harboring her distrust, but she was all that was familiar to him anymore.

His black leather boots touched upon the surface of the ground as he walked toward the ruins of the palace he knew all to well. It was not the center of the city any longer, and with everything which had happened on the planet a new palace stood tall above the rebuilt city. There was a darkness which surrounded the old, something ancient that Xander breathed in as if it were a life giving breath. It called to him.

Xander was drawn by something pulling at him. While the palace was far to ruined for him to know where he was exactly, Xander knew enough to guess he was in the wing which housed the royal family. He was brought deeper. The palace smelled of old, stagnant death, evidence of a great battle the royal family had lost. A smirk drew on his face as he allowed the darkness to envelop him. Xander drew in the energy it gave him, he fed off the dark presence of the force.

An olive toned hand pressed against the old fashioned wooden door. The hinges cried for grease and oil as it opened inward toward the room. The wall was lined with torches, a room Xander hand never seen on his many tours of the palace. He snapped his fingers for a flare and flame lit each torch.

Blue eyes focused on what was hung from the wall. The face was familiar to him. She had proven to be the most uncooperative when Xander needed a friend. The woman’s own agenda had blinded her to the realities facing Chandaar, a truth Xander had seen. Though ancient now, Xander had been a seer then as well. The future of the palace he was in had been set on canvas. He had painted it, but none had believed him. If only they had listened, but this, what he saw now, had proven they did not.

The block of carbonite was moved from the wall. Xander set it on the floor gently, and with a flick of his wrist triggered the thawing process. He watched as the brick began to glow, hoping the vitals he had read were correct and the woman was still alive. It was time to stop being lost and to cling to what he knew. Indupar and Chandaar has been great friends, and they could be once more. However, that was secondary. Two who had never been allies before would have to be now. There was no other way.

@Zarah Viren

 

[Yasha Cadera]

Hell was a frigid sleep of degrading patterns falling through her eyes. Through the centuries Duchess Zarah Viren was aware of age. Of the loss of dignity and wars fought above and around her. Connected to nothing but her planet, she melted into the ash and dust of her private quarters. The place where once she courted [member="Darth Vizios"] on behalf of her cousin [member="Chiara Viren"]’s freedom.

How stalwart she’d been then! How noble to perch on the royal dais and tell a King to create a new treaty not birthed from her cousin’s loins. How lovely the tapestries. How great the roar of victory her people gave when she sent her mother to her grave.

Hell was a forgotten room. A childless begetting. You should have taken Xander’s offer, Zarah. You should have surpassed your pride. The voice was always the same. Her cousin’s voice. The criticism of her sins.

A nudge. A familiar presence in the dark. Wine... wine and cheese offered in a dank prison. The taste of bitter wine drunk across the table from a King.

As Zarah gasped to life, her body shook, eyes blind from the sickness. Her lip trembled, dignity coating her spine with the will to sit up, or try, and cling to the warm body beside her. Familiar.

The body of a King.

Zarah gasped aloud, shaking hands reaching... a chest. A shoulder. A chin. The sensation of a King.

At first her mouth moved and no sound came from the panting lungs. Then, a whisper. “Your Majesty... Xander... what new hell is this?”

 

[Judah Lesan]

Her gasp echoed in the chamber as the first physical sign of life was evidenced. A breath, something which was so simple, so routine, was something every living thing depended upon. One breath followed another as Zarah sat up and her hands searched for the man next to her. This man was no longer the king he had been. His Majesty was a title only used by those who had known, or now used it to mock and ridicule his once lofty position. The Galactic Alliance had taken that from him, and he would make them pay.

”It is a Hell to which I have yet to find an escape,” he answered confirming it was himself. ”There will be a time for answers, but first we must get you back to my ship. We are not safe here, not anymore.”

Xander scooped her up. The fabric of her dress was cool. Her body would have to adjust to the fact she hadn’t used her muscles in almost a millennia. That would not be the hardest part. Zarah was about to experience the same hell that both Xander and [member="Chiara Viren"] had experienced. It was the kind that would have to reconcile itself to a world that was no longer hers. The one she knew no longer existed. They were relics of an ancient time, one that had forgotten them.

”Now that I have found you perhaps there will be an escape after all. There will no more games duchess, no more agendas to dance around, or an upper hand to have. In this world you have only me you can trust.”

The calm and collected manner of the King was ever present. His conniving ways never had changed. If he could secure her trust now, there would be no one who could prevent an alliance between them. She should have accepted his offer of marriage when he had given it. Now they were here. A world which hated them both.

His steps carried them back to his ship where Xander laid the woman in his bed. The blankets were pulled up over her, and the pilot was signaled to leave.

”Rest. Come and find me when you wake up.”

Xander knew all too well that she would sleep. They all had. His back turned and he closed the door. She would find him in the lounge of the ship when she was ready.

[member="Anders Sivas"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

Xander Blackmoore crossed time to reach her hiding place. Her ears burst with his voice, telling of a Hell, a world which never knew them. How could that be right?

“But Chandaar… surely it is not as negative as my Lord th-“ Zarah grunted as he swept her in his arms, her hands splaying up his shoulders to his neck as she curled in a series of coughs.

“I have lost the use of my eyes, your highness.” Zarah’s entire body shivered, her cheek pressing against his chest for warmth. “Do pardon my indignity.”

The ever present sense of a noble daughter remained fixed to Zarah’s bones. Time had not ruined the protocols and etiquette she lived by as the stringent and absent-hearted woman. In the back of her mind, Zarah fished for what she knew of carbonite sickness, of the shivers and the temporary loss of sight. Still, Xander was warm. “Surely… surely I shall decide for myself in whom to place my trust, your grace… please don’t put me down.”

Zarah’s voice shook and softened. Her fingers dug into the locks of hair she felt on his neck and she clung. By the time he laid her in his bed, Zarah could hear the tin-like sound of the ship around her, the footfalls of the man who hadn’t escaped whatever new hell they were thrust.

Her head was heavy as it laid back on the pillow. Her lips chapped and parted. Zarah Viren, the impetuous Duchess, curled into Xander’s offered sheets and for the first time accepted his charity without complaint.

“Thank you, Xander… I shall remember you once again rescued me with a purr.” Their old saying. Unseeing eyes blinked and searched the dark, as her eyelids grew heavy. For a brief moment she reached to hold his hand, seizing his fingers as with a pant, Zarah drifted off to a recovering sleep.

As she drifted in a sleep filled with the dreams of Chandaar’s last sunrise, Zarah awoke with the use of her eyes. She drifted to the side, checked her face and pushed at her skin. Had she not aged a day? Not a single day? Zarah fumbled with her hair thrice before leaving it down, fingers brushing through it as best she could. Zarah sat on the edge of the bed, becoming accustomed to the light shifting across a burgundy gown with gold lace on the crisp collar.

The velvet felt as hard as beskar. She gasped and checked to see if she’d cut her finger on the cloth. Nothing… Taking the time to dress in the gown, Zarah fumbled with the fastenings. Her fingers had not recovered adequately from the carbonite… she reached for the clasps in the back to no avail.

Raising her face to the ceiling of the ship, Zarah bit her lip. “Oh by the goddesses of Naboo and Chandaar, do not make me ask this of him…”

No answer came but the lounge beyond her. Taking a deep breath, Zarah fought one more time to bind up her hair, and having failed, walked out from the bedroom holding the back of her dress.

A flush to pale cheeks met with hair which never graced them. Outside of her regalia, Zarah was much more the apparition of her cousin [member="Chiara Viren"]. Potential sisters in appearance. Managing a curtsey as she entered the lounge, Zarah cleared her throat.

“Perhaps the trust you offered could begin with aiding a recovering woman with her frock?” Zarah’s cheeks continued to blush, her her violet eyes falling down and to the side. “My apologies for appearing in such a state… oh please say something I know you are no stranger to a gown’s fastening… and I require your… your help.”

[member="Darth Vizios"]

 

[Judah Lesan]

Xander simply nodded at her request. While she felt undignified, Zarah was ill and t afforded her extra grace. It was unfair to say Xander was unfeeling toward living things. He simply never understood what it all meant. His own father had tried to kill him because of greed. Xander had never understood what love meant. It also meant he didn’t know what family meant. That was supposed to be the context in which someone nurtured what healthy emotions were supposed to be. All Xander had was the propriety of etiquette to tell him how to interact with others. Being around those of noble birth always had felt more normal.

”I have seen you in a dungeon before. Did I treat you as if you had lost your dgnity then? I believe I brought you the best Indupar could offer...”

Her thank you was unexpected. Zarah has always been independent and stubborn. She likely would have said the same of him, but the woman had never used such niceties with him. Her words had always been direct as if they were equals. On her world she would have been superior to him, to condescend to equality was something of a grace. Now she condescended further, acknowledging she needed his kindness in the moment.

He held her hand as she tried to keep him from leaving so quickly. Soon the heaviness of the sudden revival caught up to her and the King left the room, not before laying out a dress. For those who knew him it was no secret as to why he had dresses amongst his things. The King had been notorious for enjoying the company of female companionship. Keeping dresses around to flatter them was all part of his attempts at wooing their affections.

Xander hand not accounted for the fact that her fingers would not be able to fasten the clasps on the dress. When she came out of his quarters to find him, Xander was partially dumbfounded to see her clasping the back of the dress and her hair undone. Xander stood and nodded. ”I see there was one flaw to my thinking. You’re fingers are still numb aren’t they?”

He rounded himself behind the woman and grabbed hold of the corset. ”I have never noticed the resemblance between you and Chiara until today...” There was sharp inhale as he complimented her beauty. Xander had never recalled doing any such thing for her, only Chiara. Of course she had just reminded him that she knew of his wandering ways when it came to women. It was likely he’s genuine flattery would do little to endear himself to the woman.

Despite his the grace with which he could remove a corset from middle of a woman, putting it back on her was anothing thing entirely. How Xander ever managed to unhook such tiny clasps with ease seemed to be called into question as he fought to clasp the back of the dress appropriately.

”Forgive my clumsiness. It seems my knowledge regarding dress fastenings only applies one way,” Xander chuckled making fun of himself. Lightnening the mood seemed to help as it was shortly after the dress was clasped. ”I’m afraid I will not have much to help you take your hair. However I like it as it is. Since there is no public to impress perhaps you will suffer the indignity until we reach my home.”

There was one questioned answered.

”You have many questions, I know. Which shall I answer first?”

Xander motioned to the couch which had a small table in front of it. It was adorned with fruits, cheeses, breads, and water. After the hibernation, Xander was certain wine would not be a welcome resident in Zarah’s stomach.

[member="Anders Sivas"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

[member="Darth Vizios"]

“Yes, most of me is, to be honest… my vision must be failing me, you appear to have the silken and long hair of a free man.” Was there no Indupar in this galaxy? He came behind her, his fingers brushing against the dress and her skin. How had he come upon what seemed like a monarch’s crown to this? Zarah’s lips quirked as he complimented her, his more virulent compliments descending for her proprietous sake.

“Yes, we were oft mistaken when we were young… I tended to dye my hair and wear it off my face to compensate… thank you. I’ve been told she was always beautiful… It is not your intention to flatter your marital enemy… but thank you.”

Despite her severe frown, Zarah panted out a short chuckle. She tilted her chin to see Xander’s face. How did it look to see laughter and embarrassment on the King of Indupar’s face?

“If you can forgive my indecent appearance, I can forgive your disregard for dressing a woman, when the other delights you.” Zarah tried to smirk, and give him something for his troubles. The tug of his hands on the gown stole most of her fledgeling balance. She gasped again, reaching behind her to settle her hand on his chest. Immediately regretting her decision, Zarah pulled her hand away the moment she felt steady.

“How…” Zarah eased herself onto the couch and gulped. Her hand brushed across the fabric on its’ way to the glass of water. Winding her fingers around the cool glass, she hissed at how cold it felt, how ice cold. The lights shone heavenly bright. The cheese wafted to her nose, and the sugars in the fruit assaulted her tongue before she even got a chance to eat it.

Lifting up the glass, Zarah’s fingers slid off it, causing the glass to wobble and water to slosh over the side. “My apologies! My….” She searched for a cloth or napkin, her head swooning to the side. Catching herself on the arm of the couch, Zarah shut her eyes and waited for the ship to settle around her.

“Why did you awaken me? Is [member="Chiara Viren"] alright? Nothing has happened to her, has it?” Zarah tried a second time to pick up the water glass, and failed.

“I have never wanted a drink of water and piece of bread more than this present moment.” Zarah grimaced and put her hand back on the glass, fingers trembling as she failed once again to pick it up.

 

[Judah Lesan]

"You are not mistaken. I have always worn my hair long, but recently it has not seen the binding of nobility," he answered knowing that would only add one more question to the many she already had. Those questions would wait until the corset and dress were fastened, and thing which brought much embarrasment to the King. Even Zarah could not avoid adding to the shot he took at himself with the obviousl self depricating humor. Thouugh his natural self smirked at the mention he was much more fond of the opposite.

Her hand rest on his chest for balance. The two dance around the awkwardness of the situation until it had passed. Her comments, all of them showed that her mind was still 800 years in the past. Xander hated to be the one to shatter that, but it was better he than she find out as he had to. There had been no one familiar for him when he woke, just a lonely archeologist whose memories he tore from the mind only to satisfy his need to know. Despite the kindness he was showing to one so familiar, Xander had become more the monster Kazrah had wanted him to be. His royal blood was the only thing which had kept him from devolving entirely.

"We are not marital enemies, Zarah. Your cousin and I never wed... things have happened which have brought us both to this point exactly as it is. While I do not understand them, I will do my best to help you learn what has been since you found yourself in carbonite."

He eluded her question for now. She struggled with the glass of water. Xander moved to help her with it. Three times she tried only to fail.

"Allow me," he said as he held the glass of water to her lips and tipped it for her. The glass was set down when she was finished.

"I woke you because someone else would have. Your blindness did not allow you to see the state of the palace, and had you seen it your mind would be focused on one question, why."

Xander took in a breath and released it slowly as he prepared himself mentally for the task at hand.

"I am not sure whether your stasis allowed you to be aware of time, but for some reason the force has seen fit to transplant you, Chiara, and myself 800 years past the time we knew. The galaxy no longer knows us, nor cares we ever existed. Indupar and Chandaar are shadows of what they once were, and we are left to see what our absense allowed. Were it not that I alone knew where certain Induparan controlled estates were still located I would have nothing. As it is, my network and wealth are not what you remember them to be. Another government controls mine, and yours has been raped and ravaged by many. The alliance I once offered you would be worthless now, but yet the spirit of it is much desperately needed now more than ever."

The offer of fruit came next, a bundle of grapes which he hoped would be easier for her to manage.

[member="Anders Sivas"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“How could no such bindings be upon one of natural ability?” However despicable his character in concern to his chase of ladies’ corsets, Xander Blackmoore always did rule with a certain prestige and honour. Yet, there was a danger to his eyes which unhinged her, a potential for harm his previous self would deny on principle.

“Do believe me I dissolved your contract for [member="Chiara Viren"]’s sake. My reconnaissance showed a young woman desperate for choice in her own life… and… after reconciling with Chiara after your disappearance, I know I did the right thing. No woman nor man should enter into what is essentially a sacred bond for politic’s sake. She deserved to choose for a force of which you and I have no understanding. Love.” The centuries passed unaware, yet that one contract still burdened her conscience. He moved within a touch of her body, so close a distance any lady would shy away… but oh how that water tasted, crisp and clear down her throat. Zarah groaned in delight after he removed the emptied glass, violet eyes wider than her usual wincing glances of yesteryear.

“Thank you… goodness, you must stop being so kind or you will hear yet another moment of gratitude from one who used to be a ghastly sprite stabbing at your side.” Zarah rested her head on the back of the couch, licking her cracked lip. His kindness was no preparation for the thundering drone of years which came next.

“Eight… eight centuries…” Zarah’s breath arrested in her ribcage. She clasped her hand around the collar of her borrowed dress, attempting to stop the cough burbling up her throat.

“Xander, I am sorry.” Genuine commiseration of apology graced him next. “You lived to rule, and it became you. I see now… I see you required assistance and I like to believe however untempered, we were honest with each other. At least… I was honest with you. Is this what you meant by no more games to be played?”

A shivering hand took hold of the grapes, easing them into her lap and taking one at a time to her mouth. She chewed on the centuries, discerning the time spent in her repose of Carbonite. Her voice, when it came, was the alto of her Munto Cudran self.

Her true self. “I remember age and dust and disquiet. I remember fear and panic, periods of peace… I did not know how much time had passed, but I felt its’ passing… as a… a cloth upon the skin…” She laughed out a sigh, “Oh Xander, you would relive the alliance of crowns in spirit after all these centuries? And what, storm the Induparan government? Take Chandaar once again?”

Wincing at her tone, Zarah ate another grape and looked him over. “I was young and desperate once, and you found me. You are revived and desperate now, and found me… I will honour the alliance you offered, only if you agree to never call it worthless. An alliance freely entered is never a worthless affair. A crown once worn can be worn again. You and I both know that time or no, this Galaxy is always in dire need of firm and noble leadership.”

She took him in her violet eyes, the years shifting within her gaze without reproach. “What is that terror I see in your eyes? The caged creature in tunic and propriety’s grasp? If Chiara is here, why has she not helped you? Perhaps… I should not ask. Could I impose on you for another glass of water, your highness?”

A deliberate reminder: What was once could be again. Zarah’s spine was ever filled with iron. [member="Darth Vizios"]

 

[Judah Lesan]

Xander did not wish to argue over th contract again. It had been the topic of their last meeting, one which saw the young woman unyielding in her stubborn perception of things. The truth, Xander and Chiara’s betrothal was beyond a simple contract. The vows taken even at a young age were binding as though they had already wed and required a divorce to break. Zarah thought she had the power to grant it, Xander did not. The disagreement had been that simple.

He scoffed at the notion of love. Xander would have said he loved Chiara, but they both knew it was an infatuation. She was his by agreement, so he wanted her. The thrill had always been a result of the fact she did not. Xander was constantly pursuing what he could not have, and Chiara had always represented that.

”I cannot lie or even pretend I know anything of the love you freed her to find. Obsession and infatuation has always been what stirs me. You would think 800 years would make me wiser to my own shortcomings, but alas as you have already said, I know nothing of this. Ours was always a different game to play.”

He nodded at her next question. A smile tugged at his lips noting that his kindness seemed to be disarming to a degree.

”I have always been honest in regard to how I see things. However we both know that we both sought to keep some kind of leverage over the other in our dealings. What I mean to suggest is that now, we only have honesty. Neither one has the leverage to play any kind of game, and even if it were there, I no longer wish to play those games. I am bored of them, tired. There is only one thing I want, and that is my throne.”

Zarah found herself quickly. The twisted and dark side of Xander curled into a smile when the Zarah he knew only too well revealed itself at the surface. The cold steel of her backbone was locked in place and it only made her more attractive. For once he saw the woman for who she truly was rather than the asset she could be. Before Xander had only seen what he could gain from her.

He chuckled at her assessment of him.

”I want more than what the alliance would have ever been. Those that have forgotten us will never forget the names we bear by the time we have accomplished what we must. Your dear cousin was rescued by myself, and as she always has, spurned my aid. She has sought out Manu. The Echani somehow survived as well. This galaxy is tearing itself apart. Planets are being destroyed, and the Netherworld has opened its portals to the living and dead alike.”

“Am I afraid, perhaps, and if you had been awake for the time I have been you may be as well. Consider yourself fortunate that I found you. I have regained my crown only to lose it. I have been abandoned by allies who only sought me out because of what I could do to further their agenda. I have personally seen to the destruction of those allies. I have been afraid for some time now that I will be doomed to a life of loneliness and insignificance.”

His eyes flashed with a pulse of darkness as he spoke. Zarah wanted another glass of water and he obliged. The request had called him, but the Dark Lord Xander had become, the Sith he had been made into was more evident now than the King Zarah had only been privileged to see. Even on Munto Codru he hid the dark man he was beneath all the regality he commanded. It was time for Zarah to know the real Xander Blackmoore, King and Sith Lord, The Monarch and the Assassin.

[member="Anders Sivas"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

A tired [member="Darth Vizios"] and the exhaustion of reason’s game. If Zarah had no awareness of time’s passing, if she had not cast her gaze outward in her imprisonment, she would find Xander’s admonitions spectacular and unbelievable. Yet, the sensations fit.

“I assure you, Chiara did find it. His name was Ash and they had children. A son, if I recall correctly. She also took Manu’s half-siblings, Yuca and Raya as her own, once Manu, and Ahani disappeared.” Zarah continued to eat her grapes between polite distances from speech, careful to watch the twitches of his cheeks, the glint in his eyes. Yes, this was Xander unhinged. So desperate he needed to wake her, so desperate he went back to the only woman left he could trust to read.

“I do not wish to play further games with you… I wish only for a place of equity at our table. As you said, you require my aide. Thus, I will be an equal partner, or I shall follow my cousin’s example. Those are my terms, as simple as they are.” A crown for the woman whose head only bore the coronet. Zarah’s eyebrows quirked at the news of Manu.

“So the Echani was wily as I recall… what of his mother? What of [member="Ahani Najwa"]? She was a powerful Master of the Force masquerading as a Sith Disciple in our day. She alone taught Chiara how to rule and conquer, if [member="Manu Xextos"] has remained amongst the living, perhaps his mother… allow me to converse with Chiara and I shall have the answers to our next position’s predicament. After you disappeared, Chiara and I found our place of reconciliation. If she sees me willing to stand aside your grace… her opinion may soften in regard to aid.” Grapes finished, Zarah set the bunch branch aside and wound shivering fingers around a slice of bread. With the effort of centuries of misuse, Zarah hid her struggle against the iron resolve for which she was known. She tried twice to tear an edible-sized chunk off the bread, forehead knitting only as with a snarl she tore the chunk off with a yank of telekinesis. Her eyelids shut, lancet of pain rocking her forehead. Still, she took her victory in placing the piece of bread between newly licked and moistened lips.

“If the Netherworld itself is as you say, then we shall obtain the wisdom of those who do remember trembling in fear of the King of Indupar and Duchess of Cron… and unleash it until those still living believe the unholy recall.” Zarah’s eyes narrowed, losing briefly their similarity to the wide-eyed hope of [member="Chiara Viren"].

“My dear dark majesty, such a fear is nothing but a lash at our backs, reminding us to keep busy in our further attempts. You wish to reclaim your throne. I wish now, and have always wished the benefit of my people… I have learned since Felix caked me in the black ice, that my sight was narrow on Cron’s seat. If the Galaxy is in turmoil, we shall use such chaos to our advantage, and claim not only Indupar and Chandaar, places which have spurned our memory and left our legacies acrumb. The Galaxy is wide. Resources are vast. The Netherworld is deep. Uncloud your eyes and we shall conquer more than the seats of our childhoods. All humanity is my people, and all shall have a seat at the table of a bountiful and perilous King. Yes. I will align with you. One is but a fallible pillar, two are a hearty foundation upon which conquests and kingdoms are built.”

Perilous indeed. Zarah put another piece of bread in her mouth and leaned back in ecstasy as the buttery and toasted food sent her tongue alight. Her hair swept across her neck, flooding down the front of the burgundy gown in rivulets of auburn. “Bread… how is such a simple thing so filled with delight?”

She panted, violet eyes peering heady and wanton at the simple meal.

 

[Judah Lesan]

”If you did repair your relationship then perhaps your tongue would be more apt to convince her of the need to ally with us. However her distrust and dislike of me may prove to be stronger.”

He would not deny her the chance to try. Xander was wary simply because of the number of attempts he’d made to woo her allegiance only to have it rebuffed. Had Chiara been given the choice she would have removed him from her life entirely. Xander was keenly award that she wished to be rid of his influence.

Xander’s eyes smiled as Zarah gave her ultimatum. The steel spined woman had not lost her resolve to gain the best position for herself as possible. She wanted an equal partnership. The old Xander would have immediately insisted that there was only one path to equality, but he knew better than to try and negotiate any woman’s loins in an agreement with Zarah Viren. Still she wanted a crown as well, and that complicated things.

”Equality... can we truly be equal even if both of us have a crown?” Xander let his question hang in the air, and let Zarah read into it whatever she wished.

His head shook his head in regard to the question of Ahani. Xander had no answer for her there. Perhaps they needed an answer. If she was as terrifying as Zarah suggested then perhaps their energy would be best spent in securing her loyalty.

Xander narrowed his eyes for a brief moment. He would admit the truth.

”My vision was just as naorrow. I could not see past what had been promised to me, and since waking I have not been able to see beyond taking what is already mine. The things of the dead and portals to the Netherworld are subjects I did not study. I have always been a seer, and many among the temple of Munto Codru who sought to exploit that. If we are to do as you say, I do not see your cousin agreeing.”

In that moment Xander realized all the attention he had focused on Chiara would have been better spent with Zarah. Perhaps had he pursued the alliance she wanted to offer they would have created a legacy beyond what they were even describing now. It was too late for that now, but it was not too late to agree to her willingness. They would be a formidable pair, and perhaps even Chiara would agree that she should throw her lot in with them.

”We will make the galaxy remember us then, as equals. We shall discover what that means along the way, but two are always better than one and a chord of three is not easily broken. One my slay a thousand, but two shall slay ten thousand.”

He eyed the bread and tore a hunk of it for himself. The simple things always tasted best when they were deprived. 800 years of nothing and delight could be found in simplicity.

”You will need to recover your strength. For now we head to Ec Pand where you will do just that. My dear duchess cannot subdue the galaxy without proper dress and a the opportunity for a hot bath.”

[member="Anders Sivas"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

The alliance seemed an easy burden on her recovering shoulders, yet nobility made ease appear from the most difficult circumstance. Xander Blackmoore proved that in the deepest of corners, he knew to find an ally on whom to rely. [member="Darth Vizios"] came upon her with the sensibility she remembered, but it was the vicious howl behind his eyes which called to her.

“I can but speak with my cousin. I guarantee she will be more agreeable if she realizes you no longer wish to sink between her thighs.” Zarah hid a smirk behind her hand, letting her eyes take in the way his hair framed what many called a handsome face.

Finally, Xander unhinged. Xander at his most real, most ultimate. Zarah expected nothing less than the perfection of a complete person in an ally to her side. As she watched him move through the space, his body sung of danger and his mind lit only the fires of Indupar.

“Equals… in prestige and coronation. It is not undone, or disproven.” Zarah knew where his mind would wander after she set it in his mind. Eight hundred years of her mind meandering upon the galaxy and her own inner senses caused many such thoughts to stir. “Mutual respect, mutual honour. Let the plebeians suppose, let the courtiers whisper under their hats. It will be what it is, become what it will. Pay me the respect and honour I require and I will give you the same. Neither of us get any closer to our desires without the other.”

He spoke of Munto Cudro and his visions, and Zarah soured. The Sith were a diffident education, too convinced at their own games to cause pleasure to her now. “My education included enough academic standing to conduct further research in our intended goals. Chiara will stand to her convictions but there is honour in that. We can yet make use of her protective nature, especially if she reaches her Echani father... you painted. I recall a painting of Chandaar... unless I speak of my life as a dream... you were an artist, once.”

Swaddled by the couch, Zarah let her eyelids drift. “Your dear Duchess is it?”

Her shoulder drifted with her eyelids, colliding softly with a warm side. Momentarily in a post-carbonite stupor, Zarah noticed only that the side was warm. “A bath... how I long for a bath scented with the first frost blossoms of the year...”

Eyes still closed, Zarah at rest with no more games to play unfurled before Xander. A shrewd intellect and uncontaminated strength of will protected the core of a young Lady, who sampled few pleasures beyond accoutrements, wine and a fragranced bath.

Xander on the couch. Zarah jolted awake, gasping and sitting back against the arm. “Pardon... par-pardon me. The carbonite... my apologies.”

 

[Judah Lesan]

”I am certain she will be elated beyond all measure to learn that I am no longer seeking to attach myself to her loins,” Xander said with a chuckle. Zarah only said it as she saw it. It was in this way they had always been honest with each other.

Zarah was correct in her assessment. Neither of them could achieve their goals without the other. Theirnpaths were inextricably linked into one indissoluble bond. One could not advance without the other. A deep breath dew into his lungs and released. Xander nodded in reply. ”What will come of this Alliance is what will come. People will talk as they always do, but in the end you will have the crown you always sought, and the Empire I have always envisioned will be mine. I will give deference to you where I must, and you will do the same. Think what you want, but I am certainly not suggesting that the price of this freedom come with a wedding. I am not so narrow in my mind these days.”

Xander would admit if pressed however that the idea of having Zarah as his was a thrilling prospect. There would be no forcing the issue, but as he looked her way it would be a lie to say the thought had not crossed his mind. Just because he was no longer so narrow in his thoughts it did not mean he no longer had them.

”And you will find the Sith of this age even more disappointing. They have risen and fallen thrice in the near decade I have been awake. They have yet to learn the one lesson that would keep them from their downfall. No, the Sith will not be helpful to what we seek. We shall be as we are, and the darkside of the force shall be as true to us as we are to it. The mask of Sith is no longer one we need.”

Xander took his own drink of water now.

”I did paint, still do. My visions are less when I paint regularly. There was a scene of death sonlarge I once painted an entire cargo bay with it. It is an experience I wish to avoid repeating.”

The water glass was set down just before Zarah fell into his side. Her words were incoherent, but Xander made out that she wanted a scented bath. He had not heard of these frost blossoms, but he could not help but picture the woman in a tub with flower petals floating on the surface of the water. She dozed for a bit, and Xander did not move. With a sudden jolt she was awake with an apology, but Xander not chastise her.

”If you need me to return you to the bed I shall. It is yours until we reach my home where your own chamber will be prepared. I shall have the servants prepare my mother’s quarters for you. Until then this couch will be comfortable enough for me.”

[member="Anders Sivas"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

A chortle broke out of her throat, “My darling King, you have but the faintest inkling.”

She fell back readily into conversing with [member="Darth Vizios"], bantering back and forth with the propriety of nobility and the honesty of a private bower. To sit up and speak again! To feel with her tactile senses and listen with her ears, to use her tongue and move her lips! The joys of the senses unfolded with the refreshing nature of Xander’s new line of conversation. “It is agreed. It shall be as we have mandated, and glory will belong to our seat of power… as small as it is at the moment… thank you, Xander. I appreciate your expansion of mind, and I shall give you the same courtesy. It is no longer as accursed a prospect as it once was… although I presently carry no such designs.”

The hunger in his eyes stung across her cheeks and down to a set of slowly working lips. Zarah licked them, fingers fiddling with her long auburn locks to push them behind her ear. For what seemed the primordial moment, he looked and saw her. Her. The woman in her. It sent a real thrill of fear down her spine to settle behind her belly button.

“They are peasants grasping at what they imagine is power. Only those with the divine right to rule, with the blood and soul of royalty are gifted with the resilience to see it through and know that the good of our peoples matters as much as the good to our golden thrones. I rely on the Force, I have no want of defining my reliance more than that.” She waved her hand in front of her face, fingers trembling a little less than when she first awoke.

“Do you keep your paintings private? I suppose keeping a cargo bay private is a terribly arduous affair. We shall have to protect you from such… such terrors, although there may be times where your visions are necessary, as much as I hate to admit it.” Her swoon caused her to dip a cheek on his shoulder. Sleep was a continuation of the void she suffered for eight centuries. Somehow the disillusion of time was a mercy. Drifting when there was no gauge for the minutes spent made the drift palatable. Now that eight centuries bathed her in their grip, Zarah found the void a terrible and all encompassing horror.

She jolted and shook her head. “No!”

“Your highness, that is far from necessary.” Zarah detached her hand from his knee with a yank, sniffing back the composure of which he was familiar. “A woman spends eight centuries locked in a conscious stupor and once she awakes she can do nothing but sleep? The Force is cruel if that is the reality of my situation. I shall not… I shan’t.”

A yawn broke her shoulders’ firm resolve. She covered her mouth with a hand, hearing the offer of his mother’s quarters and servants to prepare them. The Blackmoore she remembered would have connived his way into the bed, offered marriage and claimed her before she’d had a chance to think.

“How terrible a thing to steal a man’s bed… but I am grateful, it shall not be necessary. I shall stay among the wakeful.” Zarah’s eyelids once again drifted toward the tip of her nose, her body tilting to the side.

“I lived those days, Xander. Eight hundred years… I had no cognizance of the amount of time but that it was endless… endless and trapped in a box… no more slumber… I do not want it.” She gasped out a breath as her eyelids reopened.

“What distance is upon us before we reach your home?”

 

[Judah Lesan]

Xander pondered for a moment on what would have changed Zarah's mind on the prospect of alligning herself through marriage. Certainly that was what she meant when she told him that her mind was also expanded. He studied her, likely a bit longer than he should have. There was a hunger in his eyes for a great many things in regards to how Zarah was behaving. While she was her true self, she was also someone different. The time in her carbonite cell had made something of her which Xander had never seen before. What happened? It was a mystery Xander would discern at another time. As for today, he would not press the issue, perhaps just a comment.

"It makes me happy to think that I am not as revolting as you once made me out to be..." There was a jest in his voice, a tease.

The subject soon shifted solely on his paintings and talents. Zarah had not been there to see what painting the cargo bay had done to him, how the vision had taken him completely. The frenzy with which he had painted taxed him, and the thrust of the divination drained him spiritually and emotionally. Xander had come near the breaking point. Despite the steel spine the woman next to him possessed had she seen it, she would have been scared.

"I destroyed that ship. That scene is forever burned into my mind and that is one hell from which I shall never find an escape. My only hope is that I can stop it from happening, though I fear I may be the cause of it in part. If we must use my talents then we will do so only when we must. There is nothing I fear more than repeating that day. It nearly killed me, and I do not wish to die because of one my visions."

There was no room for argument left in Xander's voice. His inflection was such that it would close any rebuttal down. As far as he was concerned agreeing to using his talent when needed was enough of an agreement to satisfy what Zarah implied. Xander would not agree without saying his piece however, and that was what he had just done. The next time, when Zarah would first ask him to use his talents, she would understand the potential cost should the vision wrestle control away from the seer.

Sleep seemed to occupy most of her concerns. Zarah continued to fall asleep, doze off, and fight the inevitable. Xander understood the fear, but she needed to embrace it. Her body may have been frozen for 800 years, but she had not experienced the resorative sleepher body craved.

"You do not wish to sleep, but your body craves it. Your stasis was not the sleep your brain needs to recover. Fight it all you want, but it will win. Would you rather be a slave to it, or control it. We have another day before we arrive. I assure you I will wake you before we arrive. This alliance of ours will depend on your health. I insist you keep it. In both stature and power I am stronger than you. Do not make me force the issue anymore than I must."

It was a firm statement, but they had agreed to a mutual repsect and honor. This meant Xander would ensure her health, tell her when she was being stupid, and expect the same from her. Zarah had nothing else pressing to accomplish.

[member="Anders Sivas"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“Do keep staring at me as if I’d turned into a three headed alabaster maiden.” Zarah raised her eyebrow, edging away only minutely. She pursed her lips and pulled her hair behind her back in a nervous tick, glancing sideways at the look in his eyes. “Eight hundred years does grant moments of wisdom. I do agree with most women who have been given the gift of sight, you are far from displeasing to the eyes… Your etiquette and intellect are quite sufficient to impress. It is no lie that your bodice chasing behaviour is deucedly unattractive. Your penchant for myriad skirts on your boudoir floor is what creates such repulsions. It always has.”

It was then that Zarah realized the precarious nature of her position. [member="Darth Vizios"] rescued her from Carbonite, and sequestered her away to his ship, giving her his bed and sitting presently beside her on the chesterfield. She was ill, recuperating, weak and at her host’s mercy, a mercy which he doled out as gracefully as a nobleman ought. Yet, the wicked danger in his eyes tempered Zarah’s tongue. What had become of him in the years since he awoke was no small amount of horror. He was laced with it, consumed by his desire for his throne. The Duchess Viren would keep her chin high, and her dignity in place. Ill and recovering, she was still possessor of the divine right to rule her body’s welfare, and the welfare of her frigid heart.

Eight hundred years prior, Zarah’s only confidante and companion Felix stayed by her side whatever the predicament. He kept his place, the butler with an ear for strange politics, working diligently so she did not have to lift so much as a finger to her own welfare. Even when the throne was beset by [member="Chiara Viren"] and Zarah was a banished noble, Felix maintained her dignity and honour. She felt it was right. Quite right that he would do such. Yet, in the end, his robust silence turned to the admonition of his love. As he set her in carbonite to save her, Felix committed the unforgivable sin, and declared it had been love, not companionship, all along. Locked in that moment, what had Zarah but to ponder it, in the century before she learned to push her astral gaze outward? Such moments shifted many a cliff, creating sand of diamond wills. Yet, for Xander, it was a story for another time.

“I maintain what I said, we shall protect your mind. I have some skill in doing so, one does not enter the presence of [member="Manu Xextos"] without learning the protections mentalism can offer.” Her brow furrowed, Xander’s admission of his unhinged fears were another layer to the bastion walls she was creating in her mind for their further schemes. Knowing where he could be vulnerable was a gift, and she would have to respect it as such.

“You may insist all you like, I require no slumber.” Zarah’s eyes burned and her neck muscles tightened as she struggled to control her baser instinct for rest. A Krayt dragon in the nest of Tuk’ata ought to keep wary. Working her throat muscles and sitting with the posture expected of a Lady, Zarah looked to Xander and sighed.

“Your concerns to my health are gallant and I mean little disrespect to them. I have been alone in a degrading room for eight centuries, finally now capable of speech, taste, touch… you are far from poor company at the moment. Sleep is a lonesome affair and I have had enough of solitude. We have time, we must inspect our resources and our deficits and create plans for the future. There is now, as ever, much to be done.” The greater challenge was two-fold.

One, Zarah did not think she had the dexterity yet to relieve herself of her borrowed gown, or the strength in her legs to approach the bedroom. Two, falling asleep within Xander’s bastion took trust, and as befitting as he’d been, Zarah did not know if she could risk being so laid bare without some form of further mental assurance.

 

[Judah Lesan]

"I am sorry, dear duchess," Xander said as he averted his gaze long enough to break off a cluster of grapes for himself. "I am simply mesmerized by what I failed to see before. Before I only saw you as a means to something, and for that I apologize. You must believe this past decade has shaped me in a way that has made me different from the man you once knew."

Xander popped a couple of grapes into his mouth as he listened to the Zarah. Of course she thought he was handsome. He had known for sometime that his face was not repulsive, nor was he shocked to learn that his behavior was what had repulsed her before.

"I can assure you that there was always an advantage to such a repuation. I found that certain noblewoman would betray their own for something as fickle as physical pleasure. Call me a pig if you wish, but I can assure you that such pursuits were more about what advantage I could gain than it ever was about producing a royal heir. Now, I am the lonely bitter old man who sleeps in a cold bed of his own making."

It was as close to an admission he would give Zarah that his methods might have been wrong. She could take it as she wished, but the man was too proud to admit that her sense to avoid such matters altogether was likely the better plan.

"I appreciate your understanding then. My gifts are not useful to anyone if I not alive or worse, a vegetable."

Zarah was as stubborn and defiant as ever in her will to not sleep. He understood why she did not want to and simply nodded. However, her mind could not certainly be in a place that they would be able to avoid repeating the conversation. Xander was also aware that while she trusted him as an ally, she did not trust him beyond that. Her pride had suffered enough having been forced to deal with his mercies and aid thus far, to sleep would put her deeper in his debt, a debt she did not trust him to collect as a gentelman ought.

Xander sighed.

"As you wish, but if you fall asleep I will put you in my bed. You can fight your body all you wish, but if it wins I will not rob it of its prize."

Standing from the couch, Xander moved to the shelf on the left wall. He retrieved his datapad and set it on Zarah's lap.

"An inventory of known assets, resdences, and those I have manged swear fealty to me. It is a much more meager list than it used to be, but it is a start. There will always be a place for us to rest and hide if needed. We will need to look into your accounts. If any of the institutions sold them off during your stasis you will be pleasently surprised as to how much of your wealth is liquid. I know I was."

Xander looked to Zarah and smiled.

"There are two major deficiencies. We have no army, but you have already suggested we venture into the Netherworld. That leads to the second. You do not own a single piece of attire that is appropriate for such a journey. One is more easily remedied than the other, and I will see to it as soon as we land."

[member="Zarah Viren"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“I believe in your aura of desperation, and with no bounties left, you did go back honestly to the last woman who could bandy against and with you effectively. It is quite an effect to realize that when the options were devoid, a King would look for a Duchess, and having found her, sees not the coronet or the edicts given but the complete being he was unaware of before.” It was the only thing she could give him, the keen mind of a woman whose talents at courtly wanderings made her his last asset.

“A game of politic or not, it was an abhorrent habit. The use of emotions and one’s base instincts to acquire information or prestige… there are much finer ways, which haven’t the complicated dangers of instinct.” Zarah sighed and looked Xander over, as a woman who felt no such pleasures or momentary sighs. She could but watch the tempestuous begetting of others, locked in her silver chair to be apart from the crowd of courtiers before her. Guarded so keenly for the advantage her virginity would play in a marriage partner, Zarah refused any interest on principle. And what had it gotten her? “You are far from idiot enough to leave an army of backstabbing illegitimate heirs in your wake. An heir must be calculated and nurtured, lest it stab its parents through their hearts. What is the point of expending energy on a myriad of forgettable women, when it seems a wiser investment to build upon one who will neither forget, nor be forgotten? It could not have been pleasurable to have to teach them all how best to please you. Advantageous, but how much bitter wine had you drunk before you woke bitter and lonely amidst comfortable sheets?”

It was the most human she’d been, a deep honesty portraying the lack of pleasures taken, the reasons behind her previous scorn. A being of calculations and detachment, Zarah was a pawn in her mother’s web, then the queen of her own. She watched from her guilded prison as many courtiers rose, squandered, fought, died and fell in turn so many times it became a patterned game to decipher when the next would fall. Yet, the physical pleasures, they were not an area of detachment. They complicated the animal nature of a person, until no sense could be made. She both knew in her heart she was better than base and flippant tangles in sheets, and longed now to see just one relationship without tragedy at its’ core.

“Given the opportunity I assure you I shall be able to garner blocks of information and pattern without the use of condemnable visions.” Emboldened by the security he promised, Zarah took his chin in her fingers, tilting it one way then the other. She peered into him with violet eyes, which shone like gold. The hidden magnum opus of Duchess Zarah Viren, Shatterpoint. “Mmmh… a crux point with no tendrils but aged ones… you speak truth to me.”

Her eyes continued to flicker with gold as she first inspected the technologically advanced data pad, then tapped through the list of assets. The more she opened herself to her powers, the more a lancet of pain penetrated her forehead.

“These three. They will do nicely for our first reckoning… Felix kept my personal finances in trust on Naboo, he was adamant my wealth be housed off Cron. I had an estate in the Lake Country, watched over by the Brothers of Cognizance… it should still be in their care.” Rubbing at her temple, Zarah steadied her breathing and her shoulders. If she could handle court dress and long hours, she could handle pain… that was, until Xander smiled.

“One only requires an army if one plans to invade. Let us see what we can make of the situations in the Galaxy now, before such a venture… shall I be your dressing doll, your highness? Shall I stand at ease for the tailor in your eyes to drape me with cloth and leather until your satisfaction? How noble of you, seeing to such things. I suppose my eye for fashion drowned heartily eight centuries ago. I will rely on your eye, as much as that fills my belly with fear to admit.” A timid smirk, the first of such attempts to prove she could, in fact, smile. An increase of the redness to her eyelids, sleep yet attempting a further descent.

“Before the Netherworld, I must see [member="Chiara Viren"]. We may not need such a trip if her father’s people are virile and living… my eyelids betray me again… attempting to close on me…” Zarah tapped out the trust accounts on Naboo and made notations on Xander’s assets lists. She set the data pad down with a soft clink and ran her fingers through her long hair.

“I believe you promised to put me to bed if sleep should win… oh this is embarrassing… I cannot unclasp the dress myself, not yet… and no woman of quality sleeps in a corset. If I impose on your generosity now, do you promise to forget to lord it over me later?”

 

[Judah Lesan]

"Certainly you do not think I sought you out intentionally? Perhaps you must know the truth that the Force is at work here. I was asleep before the carbonite had taken you captive." Xander paused. "You are the only one who did prove capable of standing her ground however. I will not argue that you effectively disarmed any advantage I ever sought to hold over you. Though I do apologize on not clearing up this matter straight away. I only discovered you on Chandaar because of a stirring, a pull of the darkside. Why it only called to me now I do not know. When I saw that I had been brought to you, I only then knew what I must do. You were awakened and brought to my ship forthwith."

The alliance I have readily made because of your strength and prowess. Your poise and dignity will serve the aim of regaining control well, and you shall rule where before you were made abdicate. I have not pressured our alliance to be anything more because I did not seek anything more. You are truly beautiful, a thing I am sure you have been aware of for some time, but I can assure you that I respect your prowess as my equal too much push past any boundaries that you have established whether by voice or inference."

A chuckle. No Xander was far from idiot enough to spread himself across many a lover for the purpose of an heir. While the laws of Indupar demanded he father one, legitimacy was always a thing he sought. Xander would not see his rule undone by someone that did not come from noble stock. It was tiring game itself to play to the base instincts of women. Zarah was correct that he did not enjoy teaching each new woman the ways in which they could make him happy. Too much wine had been drunk to avoid the matter entirely, but Zarah would only get a small reply in an admission she was correct.

"It is a means I no longer employ."

His eyes would tell her it was the most honest he had ever been with her. She was searching as it was. He hated the way she looked at him. It was disarming and intoxicating at once. She created within him the urge to pull away and press closer simultaneously. There was a control she had over him that only one other had ever managed to attain, and this made Xander nervous. Zarah was nothing like the Huntress, yet she commanded him the same.

Xander gulped and pulled away as her focus went to the list of assets between them.

"Naboo is under control of the same government that controls Indupar. Your accounts will be safe, easy to access, and because of the their thriving economy you will be pleased with the wealth it has created for you. This Felix was wise to have you maintain your assets off world."

Another moment of brevity. Xander laughed at the image Zarah created in his mind of her standing on a tailor's pedistal as he dressed her in all the fashions of the modern age. His teeth were bright as the smile only grew.

"I cannot claim to be an expert on modern fashion. You will, however, be adorned with the finest hunting armor Indupar can offer. It will be nothing of what you are used to, but I have a feeling you find the freedom it offers to be addicting."

Zarah was losing the battle just as Xander supposed. It came with an admission that was more than humbling for the duchess. She needed his aid to undress. A playfull smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. They had not long ago established he was much more skilled at removing a corset than he was at putting one on a woman. The smirk faded as soon as it came.

"We are equals are we not? There will be nothing to lord over you if that is truly the case."

Xander's reply was simple, but affirmative. He stood and offered his hand. She would likely need the help up, and he was not about to remove the corset with her in the lounge. This was a matter for a more private place, namely one that was not shared space should the pilot or co-pilot need something refreshing at the most inopportune time.

[member="Zarah Viren"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“Of course not, I wouldn’t mistake you for the level of intelligence required to call upon me intentionally. The fact is thus. You needed assistance. The Force brought you to familiar ground, to find me. Here I am sitting in a borrowed dress, recovering from carbonite, a lucky endeavour, I assure you. Does it take you 800 and ten years to catch the hint? Perhaps I should come forth in another twenty? I am not here for your bed, I was making an observation of what could be seen, not offering my maidenhead for a, now defunct, serial philanderer. You’ll have to work much harder than ‘the Force made me do it’. I only admitted my change in stance on the state of marriage, I did not stick my finger out for a ring. Surely!” Zarah huffed, her cheeks taking on the pink sheen of both embarrassment and the awkward feeling in her spine due to the situation.

“Good! I feel avenged… and Naboo’s stability too is wonderful. I shall have investments which ensure I no longer have to function under your charity… Felix was quite wise in many things… it was he who encased me in my black prison… he saw what was coming and saved me from it. A more faithful butler I could never encounter. Loyal… to a fault.” She blinked and covered her mouth against another yawn, eyebrows twitching as he mentioned armour. “Armour… good gracious me… this must be quite the dangerous galaxy indeed if a Lady must rely on protective coverings to that extent. Very well, I shall entrust it to you… expert or no. Since you have to look at me, I’m certain you will not lead me astray, lest you offend your own eyes.”

His was not the hand of a mere noble painter. It was not lost on Zarah that Xander Blackmoore had indeed done more of his own filthy work since awakening to this time. The callouses of a warrior graced her gentle digits as she slid pale ivory fingers onto his palm.

“Equals. I suppose it has been some length of time since I have trusted anyone for something as simple as my own needs.” With his help she rose, the room taking a spin through hyperspace for the cobwebs in her head. A grunt was the only notice she gave before smacking into [member="Darth Vizios"]’ chest.

“I hate carbonite. I shall thus encase all our enemies in the black stuff just to watch in glee at their recovering predicaments... the years have done you well.” She said, incapable of looking up to his face. It accused her so.