I Wasn't Looking For Trouble....

[Kay-Larr]

Kay had been back from the First Order capital, Avalonia for a few days now. She had visited the Embassy and through one of her contacts, wanted to inform them of her intention to peacefully expand her reach in her sector. It had all started well and good, until her contact [member="Connor Harrison"] turned the visit into something else entirely.

Ever since her return, Kay had kept mostly to herself, staying in her office and loading herself with paperwork. [member="Veiere Arenais"] was seeing to Commenor's fleet as well as his Praxeum. That distance away from eachother gave her time to think and decide on whether or not she was going to tell him what happened.

Connor had warned her not to. He threatened her daughter's safety should she be found. Yet could he really do that? Would he hide her daughter from her? Or at worse, would he kill her? The implications of such an act, even politically would be very grave for him. And as he has what little information that Kay had in regards to Rae-Anna, there was only one other option. She had to try to find her first.

And she had to tell Veiere what happened...

Kay sat curled up in one of her comfy chairs with a blanket wrapped around her, a cup of Sapir tea cradled in her hands. She closed her eyes and focused on the Force and their bond. It was through that that they were able to tap into eachother and pass along anything such as words, images and feelings.

~Veiere? When you have a moment, can we meet? I need to talk to you and I'd rather do so in person.~

 

[WolfMortum]

One day...

It was all he asked for while standing outside the Praxeum, a commlink in his hand with Vikras Ansion on the end of the line. The Minister of Gyndine had been asking for Veiere to make a return trip to the world so that they might discuss alternatives to the current trade agreement they held with Commenor, regarding the Tariffs of incoming and outgoing stock not being enough compared to the supposed rumors he had heard between Cato Neimoidia and them. On the one hand, Veiere wanted to be understanding and patient with Vikras, knowing that the admiral was likely as frustrated as Veiere was, being the messenger. On the other...-What did Gyndine expect really, the Trade Federation were sharks and they played their cards upon every credit they could earn. To top it all off, this sounded like a job for the minister of Finance, not Veiere who wasn't even officially a part of the Commenori Government as of yet.

'Every new friend you make these days has an ulterior motive...' he thought to himself as Vikras seemed to be grumbling about the amount of work he still had to do in order to get the The QueensGuard ready for active duty. "Look, just tell him that someone will be in touch over the next couple days, I'll talk to Darben or whoever Kay has for the position..." names went over his head these days, having to remember so many of them, he'd rarely been given the opportunity to focus on the Praxeum, let alone have some time out for himself; "If he keeps nagging you for it, tell him to go through the proper political channels. You're not responsible for diplomatic relations between our worlds...-Have him escorted off the ship if you need to" Veiere chuckled softly at the thought, though the Admiral seemed not to find the humor in it all. Before Vikras could continue Veiere quickly cut in, "I'll be heading that way by the end of the week, I have things to wrap up here on Commenor first, if it's not sorted by then, then I suppose I'll have to handle it. Take it easy Vikras, try not to have a stroke old friend" he cut the call then and there, releasing a sigh under his breath. Suddenly he felt like the expected answer to every persons petty little problems.

As he was returning the communications device to his belt, the force pooled to him, bringing with the warmth of its strong embrace the words of [member="Lady Kay"], followed with the foreboding sense of anxiety. His brows furrowed and rather than turning back for the Praxeum, he looked off back in the direction of Commenor for a moment questioning what he had missed this time. 'I'm on my way' was all he gave her in response, not for lack of patience with Kay herself, if anyone were likely to ease the tension in his shoulders it would've been her, he had just hoped to get some time in with the few students they'd managed to gather for the Commenori Order.

***

By the time an hour had passed, he had finally made it to the Royal Palace, a place of great unease for him personally though he was slowly growing used to the consistent pestering of officials asking for the odd favor, 'look over this for me' or 'pass word to Kay for me', even the 'approve this for Commenor's future'...Sure the latter was exaggerated but these days all he seemed to be doing was telling the likes of these people to bugger off. All of it was a far stretch from the life he used to live as a Jedi and he hadn't given it credit, the change that were to come once his relationship with Kay had become public knowledge. It was mostly rumors at this point, they hadn't yet married and still somehow people managed to find the time to treat him differently. Some might have liked the attention but for Veiere, well...-He missed the times he and Kay had spent traveling out to take care of slavers, the smaller stuff where they had more time to themselves.

"Olivia" Veiere nodded to Kay's 'secretary?' She was a personal aid of sorts and Veiere hadn't had the time to inquire much further, though she was a nice enough woman. He didn't ask her to relay his arrival however as most were expected to, instead he walked straight on past to reach the entrance to Kay's office and step in. She'd have sensed him coming from back in the streets of Chasin City, not something he needed to explain to the help though there'd be no surprise on Kay's side of things as he walked into her office unannounced, looking to see perhaps the one person that could brighten his mood at this point.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Olivia made no move to stop [member="Veiere Arenais"] from stepping into Kay's office. On the contrary, she was glad that he was there. It wasn't as though Kay was talking to her much. That had her worried.

As Veiere stepped in, Kay had just finished her tea. She didn't bother topping up her cup as she didn't need to. She had him here to comfort her and he was much better than her tea. She got up from her chair and hurried over to him, wrapping her arms around him tightly as she kissed him. He'd feel her anxiety and that she was troubled. She wasn't exactly hiding it. "I've missed you."

Kay wasn't quite sure of how to start things off, she didn't really know what to say. So instead she led Veiere to the spiral staircase that led to her bedchambers. She wanted the most privacy that she could have, though it wasn't for a good reason. Once inside her chambers, she closed the door and then sat down on the edge of her bed, patting down the space beside her for him to join her. She looked up at him then, her eyes full of worry. "We have to find Rae-Anna...and quickly. I made a mistake, I used poor judgement and now Connor is looking for her. We have to find her first in case he hurts her." The words just tumbled out of her. "I have [member="Darlyn Excron"] and [member="Macoda Haberon"] already putting the word out to find traces of her. But they aren't as determined as Connor is..." [member="Connor Harrison"] 's determination was fueled by anger and jealousy. She had a feeling that stopping him wouldn't be so easy.

 

[WolfMortum]

Veiere took her into his arms embracing her as if they'd been apart for weeks, he tried to search her for a hint of what she was feeling, his concern soon being swept away as she kissed him and momentarily took him to a much nicer place in himself than he'd been experiencing lately, her ability to throw out everything else around them was unlike anything he'd known before save for the Force itself. Against her lips he smiled briefly, yet reluctantly pulled away, unable to shake the want to know what she was so anxious over. "I've missed you too, love...-Are you alright?" he offered her a wary gaze, and she seemed to question the room around them, almost as if she were paranoid of whom might be paying them attention, it didn't take much more than his question for her to pull him away, leading him upstairs instead to her private quarters of which, strangely enough, he'd never actually been in. A testament to how much he disliked the Palace, perhaps.

The way Kay was behaving was really starting to concern him now, she moved to sit on the bed and patted the space beside her, causing his head to tilt a little in evident curiosity; to those of whom might not be experienced in such relationships, Veiere had learned thus far that such gestures were as foreboding as ones spouse starting a conversation by 'we need to talk...'. Truthfully he wasn't too certain he liked the feeling he was getting in the pit of his stomach though this was [member="Lady Kay"] sitting before him, naturally he wouldn't refuse least her already clearly vulnerable emotions would take insult to his not coming to sit with her. When he had found his place beside her, the silence of the room around them seemingly peaceful would be cut like a knife as she started to tell him about what had happened, what had her so concerned. Though...-It didn't entirely make sense.

"Connor?" he cocked his head back in skepticism, "[member="Connor Harrison"], of the Silver Jedi?"; the last time that Veiere had seen the man was admittedly the first time they had met, though Kay had history with him, they'd met under diplomatic reasons as she were reaching out for potential allies, friends that would support Commenor's bid to become a neutral peace keeping state in the galaxy, hosting embassies of many other nations. Nothing in their meeting had struck Veiere as falls or ill-intended, Connor having been nothing but civil. "Hold on a moment..." He placed his hand atop hers, giving it a gentle squeeze, turning more to face her and find her gaze that they may lock, wanting to better understand the full story, "Why would Connor be after your Daughter... the Jedi don't go out of their way to extort people over their children..." he was very much behind the ball on this one, having had no idea of Connor's change in allegiance, he was one of Kay's contacts and the two men had had very little to do with each other since that last meeting. As far as Veiere was concerned, they had been very good friends, he and Kay.

"Start from the beginning..." He added, now suddenly questioning if she had gone to Voss. The last time he had been there it had been a war-zone, the Sith had attacked them and Veiere had lost a good friend down amidst the battle. It was the last place he would have wished she go to without him, at-least until the Jedi had recovered fully from the attack.

 

[Kay-Larr]

"The Jedi might not. But the Sith surely do..." Kay let that sink in. Hopefully [member="Veiere Arenais"] would be able to put two and two together. But as it was, she needed to fill in the gaps for him.

She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, placing her other hand on top of his that was on top of the other. Kay kept her eyes on his, wondering how far back to the beginning that she needed to go. Maybe not all the way. It was better to start with her own change.

"Not long after I returned from my captivity, I needed to see who remained an ally to Commenor. Connor represented the Silver Jedi, yes, but by then he had turned. He was leaving them. So I offered him a Minister position. He accepted and soon after he snuck a kiss. I pushed him away, but that didn't seem to stop him as I had once thought." She chewed the inside of her cheek a little, knowing that Veiere wouldn't like hearing about [member="Connor Harrison"] or anyone kissing her. "He left to tie up lose ends. I later discovered that he joined the First Order as a Knight of Ren. I had gone to our Embassy there, in part to check on things there but also to ensure the First Order that our coming expansion wasn't an aggressive one. Connor met with me there. I let him know what I had been up to, including my engagement to you and he wasn't happy about it. He tried to convince me to call it off, made advances towards me. I told him about Rae-Anna just before and had uploaded what little information that I had onto a chip. But once Connor started to get aggressive and threatening, I changed my mind about getting his help, especially given the price that he wanted me to pay for it." She paused for a moment, feeling shame and anger all at the same time. "We fought. I tried to keep the chip away from him, but he choked me. He warned me about people finding out about her and what they'd do to her. I tried to tell him to forget about it, yet he persisted. He's attracted to power now, and jealous of you. He wants what you have. I would've gone to the First Order about this, but he didn't even want me to tell you about it. He left an open threat to Rae-Anna if I did....I'm sorry, Veiere. I didn't mean for it to happen. I didn't know that it would happen...."

 

[WolfMortum]

The Knights of Ren, they were an immensely secretive Order of force practitioners within the First Orders upper echelon of hierarchy. It was only through [member="Samka Derith"] that [member="Lady Kay"] had secured Commenor a non-aggressive pact with them, as well as knowing about the Order at all where as most of the Galaxy weren't privy to such information. He and Kay had been to Avalonia once before, where they had met with Viktor, another who had tried and failed to appease to Kays personal interests, as an ally of the First Order it had been their first official meeting and then followed the ball that was hosted by the highest of their people, Kay and Veiere both having been personally invited though Veiere had passed as it hadn't at all been his cup of tea, so to speak. News of Connor's involvement with the Knights of Ren would complicate matters...-But it would not deter the sudden change in Veiere's priorities now.

Very little of what had occurred earlier in the day seemed to weigh on his shoulders now, compared to the difficulty in trying to take in what Kay was telling him. His gaze broke away from her own, hardening on the wall opposite them, his jaw tense as he listened. Other men had tried to make advances towards her, he'd known about them having been told by her afterwards, known that they'd all failed and though he were protective of their relationship, none had ever tried to do to her what she was telling him Connor was responsible for. Going further than that, but to fight her, for things to become physically violent and for the man to put hands on his woman, to choke her....-This all went well beyond political ties, it brought all of his memories surrounding Prazutis and his failure to keep Kay safe from the Sith back then; overshadowed by his decision not to take the fight to the Sith Lord for the sake of prolonged contact with Kay behind the knowledge of the Sith; having swallowed his pride back then, what Connor had done now could not be ignored.

"Where is he now?"

There were a lot of angles to this, a lot of ways this could play out and yet all he could think of was taking matters into his own hands. The voice of reason in his head told him that any action taken against a member of the Knights of Ren would result in an act of War, yet surely what Connor had done, had achieved just that. Veiere was beyond angry, his persona had changed, the Force around him seemed to grow dense as his emotions took the better of him. Years of tolerance and self-restraint being pushed to their limits as he sat there unable to look at her for the guilt that he once more wore like a badge; another attack against Kay, this one against their relationship, against their personal lives. The things that went through his head, the words that he could say, the things he could yell for all this had pissed him off. He exhaled slowly through pursed lips, his breath staggered as he sought to keep himself level headed. He loved Kay, he loved her dearly but she had a habit of getting herself into these situations. He couldn't blame her for not having expected it within their own embassy on Avalonia; years of watching men come and go trying to woe her, that subtle jealous streak in him however...-Told him to kill this man.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay felt the shift in [member="Veiere Arenais"] when she neared the end of her tale. It was why she was so apologetic towards the end of it. Even though he had broke his gaze from her, she still looked to him. When he asked where [member="Connor Harrison"] was, she spoke quietly. "...I don't know. The lead that I gave him was Bakura. So he could be there."

She stood up and stepped in front of Veiere so that he'd have to look at her. "We have to be smart about this. You can't just go barging in there and attack him. The political repercussions are too great. The First Order would destroy us." Kay knew what Veiere was feeling, she knew that he would get angry. That was why she kept it to herself for days. He wanted to defend her and her honour, she understood that. But he couldn't let it blind him.

"If I'd of known how he felt, then I wouldn't of seen him alone. And I won't see anyone alone again. But I did fight him off, you know. I didn't just let it happen..." Yet she still lost. And in that she felt as though she disappointed him. Maybe she shouldn't of told him afterall. "I love you, and I want to marry you if you'll still have me. It should stop other power craving individuals from trying to vy for my hand. All that they want is power and the crown, while you don't want any of that. Don't fall into Connor's trap....please. I don't want to lose you..."

There was so much that could go wrong with this. And all that she had tried to do was to make it right and fix it, all the while respecting how Veiere felt. He deserved vengeance. But the time wasn't now.

 

[WolfMortum]

In his mind their marriage had not come into question despite the news she had given him, he hadn't put any of the blame on her for not having expected Connor to come at her in such ways; when she reminded him that she still loved him and wanted to marry him, it sounded as if she was questioning his commitment to her. "What? No...-Of course I do..." he replied, a little thrown off by the remark though trying to see his way through his anger towards her aggressor enough so to understand what she might be feeling.

Pushing himself to his feet, he looked at her briefly, standing in front of him now though he towered over her a little bit; he simply shook his head to himself and moved away, searching for the window that he might find something outside to try to distract himself and settle his mind. "This isn't your fault, Kay" He acknowledged the truth that he did genuinely believe. That said, this action taken of Connor's was an act of betrayal against himself so much as it was an aggressive and assaulting move against her. Far be it for Veiere to rely upon first impressions yet back when they had first met, Veiere had believed the man to be one of integrity and hadn't anticipated him doing any such thing, speaking out against Veiere of whom he knew next to nothing about, and attacking their intent to marry.

"If the First Order support his actions then they may already be playing on something" he reminded her after a moment of consideration to the larger power in the western systems of the galactic charts; "In our own embassy on their capital world, one of their people have attacked you, threatened your family and tried to blackmail their way out of it..." his words were swift, heated, the subject completely insulting to be having to discuss. She was right to an extent, turning this into a diplomatic problem would bring them far more heat than they could handle yet he refused to see a way ahead without seeing that Connor be dealt to for his crimes against her. "Do you think they would support him?" He turned back, looking to Kay uncertainly; "He needs to be stopped one way or another. He's going to go looking for your Daughter and that will put us in an even more compromising position than we are now...-I'm not going to allow him to do this to you and get away with it".

Reaching for his comlink, he unhooked the device from his belt and raised it, dialing in Terrac's frequency. "It's Veiere, I want a ship prepped. We're going to rendezvous with the The QueensGuard, be quick about it...". [member="Lady Kay"] was cautioning him, advising patience but Veiere demanded answers and results. If Connor was heading to Bakura then somewhere there, Veiere might intercept him. With transport capabilities aboard the QueensGuard, the battle-cruiser had more than enough to defend itself while he could take personal transport further to the planets surface, yet there was also the matter of the First Order to be taken into consideration. How wise would it be to involve them in this affair. On one hand, they would not allow an attack against one of their people without seeing evidence of said persons guilt for themselves; on the other hand they could give him asylum.

Unfortunately, when it came to the leadership over a world or worlds in their sector, the right decision was painfully clear. "Get in contact with [member="Samka Derith"]" He glanced back to Kay, pursing his lips in resignation. "I won't risk the lives of our own...-You're right, we'll go through proper channels but we can't afford to sit here and await her response. I'm heading to Bakura regardless...".

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay was relieved to hear that [member="Veiere Arenais"] still wanted to marry her. She wasn't sure what she would do if he didn't. Hide from everyone forever? Maybe. In no way did she want Connor's words about the marriage not ending well to come to pass. Nor did she want a repeat of the tragedy of her previous marriage. She only wanted to be happy.

Veiere got to his feet and walked away to the window. Kay crossed her arms over her chest and hugged her body while she watched him, giving him the space that he seemed to need. At least he was regaining control of his emotions a little. She didn't want him to struggle through Darkness like she has. At times it felt as though she was losing her mind and it would always linger around her.

The topic of the First Order brought her out of her thoughts. Kay pondered on the very thought of this whole thing with [member="Connor Harrison"] being some sort of plot to control her. It seemed absurd. The only interest that they had in Commenor at all was in the access to the trade routes and movements of their supplies. That arrangement was never in any danger. "I don't think that Connor was working with anyone but himself. We haven't threatened to break from our alliance at all, so I don't think that they'd try to pull something like this for no reason at all. No....This was more personal than that." Still she blamed herself for it, especially after giving herself days to dwell on it.

Terrac's voice was heard on the other end of the commlink. ~No problem. These old bones could use some exercise anyways.~ He stopped drinking as much as soon as he began working for Veiere. It felt good to have a purpose again.

Kay walked over to Veiere as he turned his head from the window to look at her. She dropped her arms and embraced him, resting her head on his chest. "I'll talk with Sam, or at least send her a message if she isn't here. There are security cameras in the Embassy. I could show her the footage if she needs proof." She wasn't quite sure of how things worked in the First Order when it came to these types of situations. "Did you want me to come with you?" There were pros and cons to each decision. Kay just didn't want things to escalate out of control.

[member="Samka Derith"]

 

[WolfMortum]

Instinctively, Veiere wanted to turn down the notion of [member="Lady Kay"] joining him, yet there were other factors involved than Connor alone. "The Knights of Ren have never dealt with me before, I've only met Samka once and I've little confidence that she would take my word alone..", there was also the prospect of making contact with Rae-Anna, of whom again knew nothing of Veiere, hell she'd be lucky to recognize her own Mother after so long. It was selfish of him to think so, but the chances of being able to catch [member="Connor Harrison"] one on one and deal to him the kind of treatment that he'd dealt to Kay was far more unlikely with his soon-to-be-wife watching over his shoulder. Kay may have edged across the border of the dark-side, she might have even enjoyed it for a time yet Veiere didn't for one second believe that she'd willingly allow him to jump into a fight no matter how angry he was. "I don't think we have a lot of choice in the matter. If we did find your daughter, she won't likely respond well to anyone but you...-All the more reason we need to get to Connor first".

Being a pacifist for so many years of his life, it was difficult to feel so much anger and not at the same time too feel guilt for doing so. The Jedi Order's methods of calming the sentient mind and heart were effective at working as a double negative, anger turns to guilt, guilt to remorse and regret leading the Jedi having crossed those lines either taking a step back or plummeting further into moral decay. As a former Jedi Consular, Veiere like many others had always looked further into the alignment of the Force, the morale and idealist effects that it weighed on others. Jedi Guardians were often able to ignore such perceptions, focusing first on the goal ahead of them and striving to see it through, yet Consulars and those rising to the position of a Sage were often thought to be more spiritually biased, especially those believing in the living force and the theories surrounding.

In times such as these it was easiest to see how those of the Jedi were flawed, as much so as any other person in the Galaxy. The Jedi had never claimed themselves to be above feeling emotions but rather sought to restrain themselves and rise above them when they were at their extremes, to focus not on what they wished for themselves but what had to be done for the benefit of others. Veiere was struggling immensely with that very same situation, his anger for Connor and yet too the potential political consequences of what he wished to do to the man. In the years since leaving the Order, Veiere had bore witness to a great number of offenses. He had watched a man who he had once thought of as a brother give his life on Atrisia against the Galactic Alliance and the Jedi Order of whom stood opposing them; the Sith of all people had been his allies, his ideals tested more so then than ever before as it was others of their like that had slaughtered the enclave of Svivren. Then, later he had learned to love and then lost Kay just when he had managed to open up to her; everything being consumed by chaos and the feral nature of the Dark-Side of the Force. Veiere had nearly lost himself in those days, nearly given in and let go of his integrity in his attempts to find Kay again. It was [member="Coci Heavenshield"] who had kept him on the right path and though they had not seen one another in a long time now, Veiere would always owe her for that. It was she that came to mind soon enough, her guidance then a significant memory now as he fought to keep his mind on the end-goal of all things.

"We had better get going then..." he spoke up after a long silence, soon moving with Kay in his arms, taking her by the back of the waist and gesturing for her to walk out ahead of him first. "Take your lightsaber...-You may need it" he added, pausing at the door to wait for her to double check that she had everything that she might require for the ordeal ahead of them; "You may also wish to be the one to greet the First Order when they notice us cross into their territory, I may not have it in me to smile through my teeth".

 

[Kay-Larr]

Oh Kay has been around the Knights of Ren before. And not really by choice. Her first encounter was with [member="Samka Derith"] herself, as well as her superior, after a mission on Bespin that destroyed a mining platform. The platform itself was owned and operated by a company that had no ties to the First Order, but that didn't seem to matter. Most of them made it out alive, in part due to [member="Darlyn Excron"] 's expertise with explosives. Still, the whole event was enough to get them arrested and for Terrac to be tortured by one of the Ren for information. Then later during her election campaign for President, two Knights of Ren came into her office and made sure that as the leader of Commenor, she wasn't going to side against the First Order's interests. Of course she had no reason to, but that didn't matter.

[member="Veiere Arenais"] wanted her with him. His reasoning behind it was all sound. But it posed a danger as well. Perhaps she was just being paranoid, but she felt as though this might not go as smoothly as they wished. Maybe there were too many variables that could go wrong. Or maybe it was because her visits to First Order space never seemed to go as planned. Either way, she was determined to go.

She walked with Veiere as he led her away from the window, her pace slowing a little as he told her to bring her lightsaber. Was he expecting her to fight? Kay was hoping not to. She had tried to rid herself of this lightsaber, but then a Sith came and fought her, over the ruse that he held Veiere captive. She was lucky to have had it with her then...

"Do you think that we'll be able to find her? Rae-Anna, I mean. Do you think that she'd want to come back with us? What if she doesn't?" Kay had to stop from thinking about it. Her worry was leading her to only thinking of the negatives. That wouldn't help much.

She walked over to her nightstand and opened the drawer, pulling out her lightsaber. Kay kept it hidden as she did her Force sensitivity. But it also served as a reminder of her fall, the loss of her blood innocence, as well as the loss of the Elders. Nothing but darkness tainted it. She placed it into a satchel and packed up a few more of her belongings, before rejoining Veiere. They left her chambers and walked down the spiral stair. "I'll handle the First Order. They love rules and order, so to make it easier we'll have to try to comply to all of their wishes. Hopefully it doesn't delay us too much." Kay reached her desk and grabbed her datapad, slipping that into her satchel as well. Her commlink was sitting on top and it too was put inside her satchel.

On their way out of her office, Kay looked to Olivia. "Veiere and I are leaving for First Order space. We could be gone a week. Please inform the Ministers, Brad, and Darlyn as well."

"Yes, Kay. Is everything alright?"

"It's just a personal matter. I'll tell you all about it when we return."

"Be safe."

"I will." Whether or not Olivia believed her, she didn't know. While they walked through the Palace to the landing pad, Kay brought out her datapad and began writing a message:

~ [member="Samka Derith"]

I am returning to Avalonia to my Embassy. We are just leaving Commenor now and will be arriving in a battle cruiser, the Queensguard. It travels faster than my diplomatic vessel, though we are not intending on being hostile. Please meet me at the Embassy or send a representative that you trust in your stead. I have a couple of matters to discuss, one of which involves [member="Connor Harrison"] .

Thank you.

Lady Kay
Queen of Commenor.~

She sent out the message and tucked her datapad back into her satchel. Kay couldn't wait to have some tea once they were boarded.

 

[Samka Derith]

A reply would appear promptly on the datapad of [member="Lady Kay"]


Your Majesty,

We are at war and you seek to arrive with late notice in a battle cruiser. This was ill thought out. You of all people should know that the First Order's boarders are tightly regulated at the most relaxed of times. Regardless, I have pulled the necessary strings to ensure this proceeds as smoothly as possible. You are to hold at the Halm system where you will pick up a military escort to Dosuun. This is a measured precaution we hope you understand and is the best I could achieve. I do not have direct control of our boarder force and many in the military hold reservations of my Order's authority.

You are a Head of State and deserve the respect given with that title therefore I shall be there to meet you in person to discuss matters.

My warm congratulations to you and [member="Veiere Arenais"] on your union. I regret that this war has torn my attention so far from your affairs and I was unable to respond sooner.

Best wishes,

Samka Derith

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay read the reply that [member="Samka Derith"] had sent over some tea. She frowned a little bit as they were being chastized for their method of travel. But she did have a point. At least they weren't denied. She sipped her tea as she read the message further, glad that Sam was going to meet with them. But what caught her surprise the most was of her knowledge of her coming marriage to [member="Veiere Arenais"] . It had not been made public yet. That made her wonder if there were spies or cameras keeping a close eye on Commenor and/or herself. That could be both a good thing and a bad thing all at the same time.

She whipped up a quick reply and sent it:

~Samka Derith,

Thank you for your understanding. I apologize for any inconvenience this causes you. And thank you for the well wishes...

See you soon.

Lady Kay
Queen of Commenor~


Once that was sent, she left her quarters with tea and datapad in hand to show Veiere. He needed to know the protocol, as well as the matter of them being spied on. What else did the First Order know? What other secrets?

*****************

Some time later, they arrived at the Commenori Embassy. Kay took a hold of Veiere's hand as they walked through it and headed to her office. Already she had asked security to send her the recordings of her 'meeting' with [member="Connor Harrison"] . But it wasn't until she was in her office that she opened the file. "Did you want to see the security feed? Or just wait for Sam?"

 

[WolfMortum]

It wasn't necessarily a science to know that the First Order wouldn't take a liking to their choice of transport though given the circumstances and Veiere's current mood, he wasn't planning on taking any chances. Reading over the message, he nodded briefly in acknowledgement though didn't speak on the matter, instead leading Kay out of her office and private quarters intent for them to leave as quickly as possible.

Their voyage to the Halm System went as was expected, Vikras Ansion in command of the Battlecruiser took the lead while Veiere and Kay found more comfortable quarters several decks below the bridge within the Officers holdings. Here things were rather more established, the likes of living standards you'd expect made available to the upper tier of Naval Hierarchy; Veiere attempted to keep his mood amicable yet his frustrations for the ordeal hadn't subsided at all.

Soon enough word came down from the Bridge that they were receiving a military escort from the First Order. War it seemed had tensions high and with a little more interest voiced over the foreign territories, Veiere learned that it was the Galactic Alliance that the First Order were presently combating. It seemed where every they went, war was the frequent answer to peoples differences in the Galaxy. It justified their choice of vessel, especially after what Veiere had seen back on Voss with the convergence and invasion of the Sith against the Silver Jedi Order.

When they reached Dosuun, the pair would disembark upon one of the vessels private transports then taking their descent down towards the capital of the world where they would find Commenor's Embassy and Veiere finding himself once again on edge in the Imperialist world. The first time he had visited them had been on very different circumstances, Avalonia and their host Victor? He could not remember the mans last name suffice it to say that like others, he had been most accommodating to [member="Lady Kay"]; it was typical that Veiere's return to First Order space would be in response to a personal assault against his partner and soon-to-be Wife now.

"We should wait for Samka, I'm not overly confident my viewing the recording earlier will do anything to help matters...-You've told me enough of what happened and I'd prefer to share my response with her present..."

How [member="Samka Derith"] knew about their engagement was beyond Veiere, the First Order seemingly keeping tabs on their interests in Commenor led him to then question their ability to guard themselves against information leaks and general security; at the same time, hearing just how extensive their reach was, also led him to question whether or not Sam' had already been made aware of [member="Connor Harrison"]'s activities of late and just what kind of results she might bring to settle Veiere's current temperament, if any.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay nodded. She hadn't seen the security footage herself. She only had her memories of what happened, and that was bad enough. Did she lead Connor on? Not to her knowledge. Although he kissed her not long after her return from captivity, she didn't return it. So she figured it was over. Especially as he ignored her at the First Order ball.

No. This was something else. More than likely he just wanted power. [member="Veiere Arenais"] was gaining that just by marrying her, whether he wanted it or not. Maybe that's what was irking [member="Connor Harrison"] so badly; Veiere was not interested in power, but was getting it anyways. Whereas Connor wanted it and was being denied. That was her theory anyways.

Could she of handled the situation better? Maybe. However she did get a couple of kicks in where it counted. Still, in the end she couldn't help but feel as though she lost. Connor had the chip that contained what little information on Rae-Anna that she had, and whether or not he was going to blackmail her for it remained to be seen.

Veiere had every right to be angry and to want to hurt Connor or worse. Yet death wasn't the answer. It shouldn't be the answer. And seeing her husband-to-be get so angry, she wondered just how powerful of a Darksider he would've been if he had been the one that was captured instead of her. It was a scary thought.

Kay was sure to stay close to Veiere. She leaned against his left side and wrapped his arm around her shoulder while she wrapped her right around his waist. "Thank you for coming with me..."

 

[WolfMortum]

[member="Lady Kay"]

"I can't say I'm overly excited to be here...", Veiere took Kay into his arms as she came to him, holding her and gently resting his head atop her own whilst his gaze sought the far wall, his eyes distanced while his mind remained aggrieved. [member="Connor Harrison"] had threatened them both, their family but so too called out Veiere's place in Kay's life and that wasn't something he could dismiss; not after having let go of so many other burdens to get Kay to trust him again after Prazutis had invaded their lives.

"You've come so far since your abduction, Kay...", it wasn't a subject they spoke of too often for clear reasons, it still left them both feeling uneasy. Veiere, due to his inability to keep her out of the Sith Lord's reach and Kay, because of her ordeal being tortured, the command to have the Elders killed (to which Veiere only had suspicions about yet had not yet been confirmed by her) and the general upset to the state of their government, both in her choosing to completely redefine her personnel roster and then later having to seed out any potential spies from the distant Ascendancy. [member="Tirdarius"] himself had even confronted her upon Commenor's moon Folor, of which Veiere had been there and given as typical a first impression to any pessimistic Sith. "I'm not going to stand by and let someone else come and bring it all down on top of us..." his voice faded slowly leaving the words to linger, the intent behind them there for Kay to possibly guess though he wouldn't say the words aloud, especially not here on a First Order world. The connection in the force the two shared would be more than enough for Kay to suspect just how deeply this was bothering him, that silent rage that came from burying all stronger emotions slowly churning within, a quiet fury that needed only the right incentive to ignite and Connor had done very much that, found Veiere's incentive that could blur his clarity of mind and delve to the edge of moral integrity.

"I wonder if the First Order will act on this..." He soon spoke again, this time in uncertainty. He didn't overly trust them, they were a closed government who dealt freely with other would-be allies yet too denied them any real insight as to their inside dealings, such was their right yet Veiere just felt held at bay by these people. As Allies they were crucial to Commenor and [member="Samka Derith"] he had found made a good first impression, if not a little young to be dealing in such matters of diplomacy, she had still managed to strike him as well mannered and friendly, the vast extreme of her position among the Knights of Ren (though naturally Veiere wasn't made aware of any of that). "I expected they wouldn't care for our entrance though that was half the point of taking the QueensGuard. The situation is serious enough and I wanted them to take notice...".

 

[Samka Derith]

She came alone.

There was no need for escorts, assistants, guards or anything of the like. Firstly: because she was certain [member="Lady Kay"] and [member="Veiere Arenais"] held no ill intent. Secondly: the girl was quite confident in her own abilities to handle any complications without support.

She walked through the halls of Commenor's embassy, practically prancing her way through as she hummed a jolly tune. A few eyes were drawn to her as she made her way directly to Kay's office, no doubt a little taken back by the youth so nonchalantly making her way to the most restricted areas of the embassy. The girl knocked on the door to the office several times, her knocks forming a jovial pattern as she did so.

"Hellooo~" she called out as she opened the door, "Don't be doing anything naughty in there because I'm coming right in!" she said in a tone full of childish mischief.

The teenage form of Samka Derith appeared in the doorway with a pleasant beam on her face. The Dark Side corruption had been hidden from view with her eyes returned to their natural brown. She was dressed in civilian clothing, a floaty cream dress covered in ruffles descending bellow her knees complimented by white tights and flat shoes. In her hand she twirled a parasol the same colour as her dress. Her appearance therefore similar to the last time the three had a meeting.

The young Ren offered a curtsy before she spoke. "It's such a warm day outside that I couldn't bare to be without this," Samka gestured to the parasol in her hand. "The sun is shining, the birds are singing, what more could you want?"

As the door shut behind her, the girl's entire demeanour changed. Now content they were alone, her smile faded to be replaced by a scowl. With a single blink, her eyes had changed back to an eerie red while her dainty, joyful movements replaced with a determined stride over to Dosuun's guests.

"And we," her voice had dropped its cheerful, sing-song tone as she propped her parasol against a wall. Now she spoke firmly and authoritative. "Have business to discuss?"

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay closed her eyes while [member="Veiere Arenais"] held her, listening to him speak as well as hearing his breathing in pace with his heartbeat. She wished that the circumstances for this visit were better ones, yet it wasn't. Her excitment for being here was about as low as Veiere's.

He brought up the topic of her abduction, or time in captivity as she liked to call it. They hadn't talked about it for some time, moreso because they were too busy, but also because they had wanted put it all behind them. It was the darkest period of her life and she had lost much because of it. Her recovery continued, even to this day. Her memory was still full of holes yet they were working on a theory to have them returned. It seemed that every time herself and Veiere were getting closer, someone or something tried to seperate them. It was a true test of their loyalty and devotion to eachother. "I know...I didn't encourage him, Veiere. I wasn't looking for trouble." She left the rest unsaid. He would know soon enough when he saw the security footage.

Whether or not the First Order would act on it, she could only shrug. Commenor only held one significance for them and that was the access to the trade routes. Without that there was nothing. The small amounts of credits that Kay had given them for their fundraisers was probably just a drop in the hat to what the large government required to function. "Let's hope that they do something..."

The knocks interrupted their quiet moment alone. Kay opened her eyes and released her hold on Veiere. Such displays of affection were not often made public. She was a private person when it came to something so personal. It was why she never went into detail about her torture as well. They were her scars to bare.

[member="Samka Derith"] soon stepped inside, her appearance and behaviour was far different than what she was expecting. Kay bowed her head to her, offering a small smile of greeting. But once the door closed, the sunshine left the room and so did the small measure of joy.

For a moment Kay just stared in silence as she mustered her thoughts. She then cleared her throat a bit before speaking. "Yes. Thank you for coming on such short notice. During my last visit here not very long ago I had an....encounter with [member="Connor Harrison"] . It wasn't a very pleasant one. He used to be one of my Ministers, so I thought that I could check up on him while I was here. But it turned into a different kind of meeting alltogether. He forced himself on me and tried to blackmail me into spending the night with him. I refused, yet that didn't stop him from continuing his efforts. We fought some, in this very room. There should be footage of it in the security feeds, if you want to see what happened for yourself."

 

[WolfMortum]

What change Veiere saw in [member="Samka Derith"] as she entered, closing the door behind her and soon letting go of the facade to resume her much darker and far more serious demeanor was exactly the reason why he often found himself suspicious of the First Order every time they came up in subject. These Knights of Ren were kept so quietly hidden from the rest of the galaxy, not like the Sith at all in their pride for showing their strength in arrogance but rather finding the Ren to be far more sinister in the quiet, subtle impact they cast upon politics on the western front of the Galactic Map; while Veiere would want to trust the younger girl, he couldn't help but remind himself to take each word with a grain of salt, so to speak.

[member="Lady Kay"] spoke quickly, in the initial moments of Samka's entering into the room and securing their privacy, his queen left little to imagination and Veiere found his gaze dropping in response. Crossing his arms over his chest he kept himself guarded, that formerly welcome and warm attitude that Sam had been shown upon her time on Commenor and their introduction wasn't to be seen in this instance, the aura of his presence weighing far heavier in the frustration that peered down against the floor boards with a furrowed brow. Kay had thus far managed to neglect Rae-Anna's part in all that had played out, her daughter of whom had been hidden away after the death of her late husband; now suspected of being sought after by [member="Connor Harrison"], the man had much to answer for and their last lead had pointed Veiere in the direction of Bakura, First Order territory. How fortunate for Connor that Veiere couldn't just go waltzing on in with his lightsaber in hand and the QueensGuard at his back.

Pride, it was his vice and it had grown with his love for Kay being allowed to flourish. Without the structure and rules of the Jedi Order that he had so dedicated himself to for so many years he had often found a moment to reflect on himself and the way he had changed, subtle changes but the distance had made him vulnerable still to his greater wealth of emotions. Back on Svivren, he had felt this way. The eve that the Sith had attacked their enclave, slaughtered all just for Veiere and the seven others had returned from the Core worlds to find only a remnant of the army that had killed all that they had held dear. They had disarmed the remaining Sith, struck them down in cold blood and thus he had fallen into Exile. Twelve years later he had met Kay on Alzoc Three when she had ran into him in the Capital there. That dark history had remained with him, it had haunted his nights for the trauma that had been cast upon him but worse the fall that he had taken in losing himself to the Darkside of the Force that day. He had sought atonement, had thought he had found it and thus for so many years since he had strayed as far from those darker desires as he could. Even when Prazutis had struck a blow to Commenor and announced Kay's return as one with the Sith, Veiere had focused entirely on her and the potential of losing what little hope had remained if she had witnessed him taking to it all in open battle. It was the distraction he had required to keep from wanting to kill the Sith Lord then, yet now? He found himself in a place of great doubt. Was it his presumed reputation that troubled him, like the history of repeated failures trying to restore the former traditions of the Jedi Order, was he to be known for repeatedly failing to protect the woman he loved? The pride that had grown in him resented the possibility and Connor...-He was quickly becoming a scapegoat as much so as a villain for his actions taken against Veiere's Queen, against his family.

 

[Samka Derith]

"A pleasure, your Majesty," Sam said polietly. "Nice to see you too, Mr Arenais," she added with a hint of dry sarcasm as the man kept a rigid posture with his gaze on the floor.

The auras of both people beside her were different than before. It was as though an innocence had been lost to them both. [member="Lady Kay"] without the warm welcome and [member="Veiere Arenais"] standing silent. In other circumstances, it would be something consider exploiting. How far could one of them be pushed before submitting to the abyss of the Dark Side, she wondered. She'd consider the possibility of playing them both like instruments but another time. Besides, they were not yet her play things to manipulate.

She stood listening intently, holding her hands together as Kay spoke. As the story continued her face twisted from curiosity to revulsion.

"I... see," she murmured after a moment. "Needless to say, that's not appropriate behaviour," Sam said quietly, her mind racking through a list of responses, both to Kay and her Order's wayward Acolyte. Needless to say, allegations of sexual misconduct weren't high up on her list of experiences to draw upon. She barely gave such matters any thought, Sam having long since repressed any urges to remove distractions from her task of ensuring her empire functioned smoothly, she could forget that not everyone functioned that way. Even among her own Order.

"Well? Show me the evidence," she said firmly yet not unkindly.