Painting the Roses Red? Off with Your Head!

[Carliah Dakrone]

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The palace gardeners were running frantically through the gardens surrounding the Mad Queen's palace. The insane Sith had recently ordered them to plant Malreaux roses in the gardens, but the idiots had planted purple ones instead of the deep red color their insane queen had asked for. They feared for their lives and so were frantically trying to paint the roses red to cover up their mistake until they could replace the roses they had already planted. They paused, turning in fear when they heard a nearby door to the palace open and saw Darth Vivaldi striding out into the gardens. Carliah smiled at first, stopping to admire one of the bushes before turning and glaring at the head gardener.

"Explain to me exactly why my roses ARE PURPLE!!! CAN'T YOU INCOMPETENT FOOLS DO ANYTHING RIGHT? DID YOU REALLY THINK PAINTING THEM WOULD BE ENOUGH TO FOOL ME?" The Mad Queen began shouting angrily, clearly upset at the mistake and attempted deceit.

"N-no ma'am. We... We planted purple ones by mistake and we didn't have t-time to reorder the bushes. I'm sorry Queen Vivaldi. Please... We'll fix it I swear!" the poor gardner, a Twi'lek wearing a slave collar, cowered before her. Carliah merely smiled down at him, her usual twisted, insane smile.

"Off with your head then!" She smirked as she drew her vibrosword and swung it lazily. His head rolled across the ground and once it stopped she resumed walking through the garden, pausing to kick the severed head as she passed it.

[member="Yusan Fenn"]

 

[Serah Oricion]

[member="Darth Vivaldi"]

"Carliah..." He was standing by the door to the area, disappointment on his face over how she treated them. Waving for two other guards to clean up the mess and for another to help those that survived the woman's wrath. "Carliah, you really need to stop killing people over such trivial things... its sickening and the Nightmare child in the skies over this planet will not always be there to protect this place so you must show a softer hand when dealing with your people. Otherwise the first chance someone gets that is not the sith will come and dispose of you completely..."

 

[Carliah Dakrone]

"I don't kill people as often as you seem to think. I can be harsh, but it's only to show them who's in charge as well as the cost of displeasing me," Carliah replied, sounding a bit like a pouting child. She hated when Yusan was right. The Mad Queen had been given an Ace to keep her in line it seemed. Yusan was slowly becoming her sense of reason now that he had a place among her court. [member="Yusan Fenn"]

 

[Serah Oricion]

[member="Darth Vivaldi"]

"It is better to be loved than feared Carliah, im not saying you can't punish your people for failing you but killing them over the color of your flowers is wrong and it achieves nothing but wastes your resources. What i mean Carliah is that you could have been a bit softer with your punishment and i don't exactly like that your instant reaction for that is to kill them when they did nothing wrong to deserve such a punishment..." He sighed as he looked down at his side and grabbed the vibroblade at his side that he had gotten from the local armory due to Carliah needing his saber far more than he did.

 

[Carliah Dakrone]

"I... maybe in the future I will be a bit... Kinder," Carliah growled out, more to make him shut up than anything else. She thought having him around the palace would be nice, and it was but things didn't go well all the time. He was constantly criticizing the 'new' Carliah, commenting on the way she ruled, dressed, or did anything. It made her want to smack him sometimes, but she felt to guilty over his death to do so. [member="Yusan Fenn"]

 

[Serah Oricion]

[member="Darth Vivaldi"]

He smiled at her and moved forward before speaking to her and making sure no one was in the hall to hear. "Now now my dear, i know when you are lying and saying what will leave me to shut up. We lived together long enough for me to know the difference between you telling the truth and your trying to just shut me up there." He smiled and glanced once more around before pecking her on the forehead and moving on with a smile on his face and the tail moving behind him. He was really not used to this body but there would be times to get used to it a bit longer once the situation determined such.

 

[Carliah Dakrone]

Carliah blushed a bit as he kissed her forehead. She was with Jink now and the gesture made her feel guilty. Part of the Mad Queen still did truly love the man, but she had Jink and Joelle now. Soon her other children would be moving into the Palace as well. How dysfunctional of a family they made. Her, Jink, Joelle, the twins, Balaya, and now Yusan all floating around the palace, coming and going as they pleased. Sure they weren't all technically a family, but Balaya has essentially raised the twins which was why she was included in Carliah's little family. [member="Yusan Fenn"]

 

[Serah Oricion]

[member="Darth Vivaldi"]

"You going to stand there lost in thought or are we going to get a move on my queen, you have other things to attend to minus... admiring your gardens." He was back to guard mode, nothing in him really registering that he had just done what he had done but he seemed to keep it from his mind none the less. It was not that he didn't enjoy kissing her once more but like in her her own mind he was no longer the one that was the husband that she had had before this whole situation turned sour and he was... not replaced, no that is not the right word. What the right word was though, he didn't know.

 

[Carliah Dakrone]

"Perhaps I should have made you some kind of adviser instead of a guard," Carliah mused out loud as she followed him. The former Senator in him certainly showed as she walked after him. Always had to go by whatever schedule he had made, and he would make damn certain you followed it too. It almost reminded her of a story she had read when she was a child. The character she had in mind was some kind of animal that carried a pocket watch and screamed "I'm late" all the time. She made a mental note to find someone like that to keep her on track more often, as Yusan was by far a better guardian in her opinion. [member="Yusan Fenn"]

 

[Serah Oricion]

[member="Darth Vivaldi"]

"I dont know, do you want me to talk off your ear more than i already do because i can if you want... trust me, ill make it worth me being a guard over an adviser. Or perhaps i could be both my dear queen, already am for the most part." he laughed to himself and looked over to the side for a moment before nodding to himself and turning his head again. "After all, where would you be without me fixing the damage you keep doing, just like when you used to trip over everything and i helped you then."

 

[Carliah Dakrone]

She was tempted to smack him upside the head the hilt of his lightsaber as she heard what he said. True she used to be a rather klutzy person, always tripping on things and dropping stuff, but she was much better now.The insane woman followed her bodyguard, trying to ignore the words that continued to come out of his mouth. She was too lost in thought to respond to anything he was saying. Maybe having him here would make things slightly better for the people of Widek, but the woman's insanity would never vanish completely. The torture and death would still occur just not in as great of numbers. [member="Yusan Fenn"]

 

[Serah Oricion]

[member="Darth Vivaldi"]

He remained silent the rest of the walk,watching her and waiting for her insanity to act up again and for his need to act to keep her from being seen worse than she was already seen by her people. They had started to catch on though that when Yusan was around they could trust their queen to be a bit more merciful, of course he couldn't be there at all times of the day which is when the spurs get past him but he had atleast given these people a hope that they hadn't had before when it came to their queen. "You should let your slaves have some freedom by the way Carliah..."

 

[Carliah Dakrone]

"What exactly do you mean?" She asked, taking a seat upon her throne as they finally entered the great hall of her palace. She hated having to listen to the people of Widek whine to her about issues she didn't care about. Who was even in charge of granting people audiences with her? Half of these requests weren't worth her time, and the others were simply annoying. [member="Yusan Fenn"]

 

[Serah Oricion]

[member="Darth Vivaldi"]

"They don't deserve to have their lives controlled and are never given their chances to experience the worlds that you and i have been able to do so..." He spoke to her, making sure no one was in the room yet. He would not challenge her decisions as openly when people were around as it would make her look weak if her guard told her what she was doing wrong outside of whispers here and there.

 

[Carliah Dakrone]

"I'll consider your request later if I have the time," Carliah replied dismissively. She didn't really care much about the servants around the castle. They were well fed, clothed, sheltered and many of them even received a bit of pay. The only one she actually put slave collars on were the ones who had been disobedient in the past. For the most part they were treated more as servants or employees than slaves. [member="Yusan Fenn"]

 

[Serah Oricion]

[member="Darth Vivaldi"]

He sighed, he was getting no where with her and it was worrying him that if he could not do it that his old love would be put in a dangerous situation if anyone past the sith ever came to this area. He still cared heavily about her and stared for a few long seconds hoping and waiting for her to speak again but he gave up and spoke himself. "Carliah, you understand i am trying to keep you safe right?"

 

[Carliah Dakrone]

"Who told you I wanted to be safe," she replied, apathetically. The Miraluka really didn't care at all for her own safety. As long as Yusan and the kids were safe, nothing else mattered. She stared straight ahead, avoiding his gace as she waited for her first 'annoyance of the day' as she refered to the citizens as. The woman really wasn't too great at running a planet. [member="Yusan Fenn"]

 

[Serah Oricion]

[member="Darth Vivaldi"]

He stared at her and glanced once more around, anyone in the area getting the hint and leaving as he waited for no one to easedrop before speaking. "Carliah, listen to me right now, if you ever speak like that again i will promise you i will leave this place and never return because i will not watch you ignore me and destroy yourself. Am i clear enough?" He turned and left, he wouldn't go too far he couldn't get back if something happened but he left the room all the same.

 

[Carliah Dakrone]

Carliah sighed as she watched him go. Things between them were far to strained for her liking, but there was nothing that could really be done about it. She finished listening to her subjects complain, actually granting some of there requests and surprisingly only calling for the death of one of them that day. Usually by the time this part of her day was through, five heads were rolling around the throne room. She got up slowly, stretching her stiff muscles before walking out through the same door she had seen Yusan go through. [member="Yusan Fenn"]

 

[Serah Oricion]

Yusan was busy, his back hunched as he bent over a table with a hand on his head. The room served as both a library of sorts but also as a training area, every single one of the droids reduced to scraps as he breathed in and looked over his shoulder. He sensed her the moment she came through the door and sighed, his shoulders relaxing and he turned to look at her as he leaned against the table. "Uh, so how did your greeting of your people go..."

[member="Darth Vivaldi"]