Revelations

[Kay-Larr]

Kay blinked. Did she just hear him right? She glanced down at her cup of tea, as if she was searching for something inside it, remnants of a drug or whatever. But there was nothing.

"Excuse me?..." Was this a joke of his? Was he just poking fun at her to gauge her reaction? Surely [member="Connor Harrison"] wasn't serious. "There must be something else, or I just didn't hear you correctly..."

 

[Connor Harrison]

He thought for a second, and looked around.

"No, I don't think so."

Connor was done skirting around, always coming last. Always being pushed around.

"You. Spend a night with me. I think we've avoided this for a while now, and I you can't seem to let me go."

He walked towards her from the chair.

"Can I get you some tea," he gestured with his hand.

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

[member="Connor Harrison"] was serious. That was not what she had thought at all. Kay swallowed a little as the weight of this revelation of his own pressed down upon her. She felt heavy with it, as though gravity had somehow increased in the room.

Kay held up her cup to him, though she didn't meet his gaze at all. "Yes...Top up my cup, please."

Her mind was swimming. Spend a night with him? And do what? Have a date? He lost that chance already. Surely he didn't mean to sleep with him. And what did he mean by them avoiding it? And not being able to let him go? Is that partly why he left and didn't contact her? Because he was waiting for her to reach out first?

"With all due respect, Connor...I can spend time with you, but nothing more than that. It's easy to guess that Veiere won't approve." She bore no ring on her finger or any evidence to suggest that she had a husband-to-be. It hadn't even been made official to the public yet. But that was no excuse. Connor's price to pay seemed to be a big one.

Perhaps there was some other way that she could access those records, maybe even on Bakura itself. Surely some of the officials there would grant her access. But she hadn't set foot there since the First Order claimed their territory. There could be a lot of changes as to how Bakura was run.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor leant over to take the hot pot gently in his hands, and filled up her cup. Was it trembling slightly?

"There we go."

He walked around the table to stand beside the Queen.

"Don't lie to yourself. There is an attraction there. There always has been, but your pride has always stopped you. Well, now you don't need to. One night with me and I'll help you find your daughter. And that's it."

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay stared at the cup after it was refreshed and [member="Connor Harrison"] spoke about her pride. Of course there was her pride, but something else stopped her as well. He towered over her while she was sitting and he was not. It made her feel small in comparrison.

She sipped her tea, glad for it's comfort in this situation. It helped her to think a little clearer, where a clear mind was needed.

Her head turned up to him when she figured out her answer to his request. "I think that you've mistaken frustration and intimidation with infatuation, Connor. We always argue when we're around eachother, you're very unpredictable and you made your choice to work for a more powerful government. That's fine. I don't run your life nor do I expect you to follow me around."

Kay's voice became firmer as she solidified her stance. "I didn't come here for a one night stand. I have not been with anyone in 15 years and I sure as heck won't allow myself to be blackmailed into one over the very slim chance that there might be some record of my daughter's whereabouts."

Connor was different. She didn't even think that he had felt that way during their previous encounters. But with the darkness, it made his emotions far more volatile. He's always invaded her personal space and at least this time she wasn't backed into a corner.

Kay took another sip of her tea as she paused, studying him, feeling and almost seeing the Darkside swirling within and around him. At least Tirdarius didn't have him in his fold. "What have you been doing since you've been here? Did they enlist you in the Knights of Ren?"

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor pulled the chair out he was beside, shifting around the Queen and taking a seat, crossing a leg over the other.

"Very well. If that's how you feel. I know we bicker a little, but last time I was here you needed me more than ever and we began to understand each other. What a shame."

He smacked his lips and tapped his fingers on the long table, meeting her gaze with his own.

"Oh, the Ren? Yes I am in their ranks now for the First Order, doing what I can. Will I be there long-term? I do not know. It depends what idea of a future they have, and if I fit in for the plans. I still have wants and ambition, and the First Order may well provide it for me if the Ren and their view doesn't."

A little frown crossed his face, as if something came to mind, and he looked at his fingers.

"Anyway, your daughter. Do you know how safe she is? You do know what could happen to someone with links to royalty, don't you."

His eyes drew to hers again. There was a clear hint of menace to him.

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay felt herself relax a little as [member="Connor Harrison"] seemed to pull back on his advances. It was true, she did need him back then, although it was to help her to govern her planet, and to help her adjust. However he had made it clear that she needed to find her own way and not be led around by someone elses hand.

And so she did.

She had another sip of her tea, holding Connor's gaze with her own as he spoke of the Knights. It was easy to guess that Connor would only stay with them for as long as he felt that they fulfilled his needs. Kay wondered if he was tasked with interrogations and torture like she had experienced before on Bespin. At least she was lucky to be an ally of the First Order and not an enemy. Would there be a time when she would become Connor's enemy? It wasn't a hard thing to imagine given that she had refused him.

She raised a brow as Connor frowned and stared at his fingers. What he had said hinted at being both a warning and a threat, especially with that look in his eyes. Kay took a couple of seconds before she responded. "I don't know what kind of life she's leading right now, nor if she is even alive. And yes....I am aware of kidnappings and royalty being held for ransom or worse. Although once I find her, she will be protected..." A thought occurred to her just then. Connor wouldn't sink to that level though, would he?

At this point, she wasn't so sure....

 

[Connor Harrison]

As her face seemed to display a second thought as she spoke, Connor nodded. She knew what he meant.

"Good. Let's hope we get her before someone else does who isn't as...understanding."

He leaned up and over to get his glass of water and took a sip.

"Give me what you have now on her last location, names and anything else that will help. I trust you can give me more than your inept staff did on your kidnapping. That was painful." Another little sip. "So tell me about the wedding to someone you don't really know or have spent time with. How did it come about?"

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Understanding. Right. Her biggest concern was of Thraxis finding her. He wouldn't hold Rae-Anna for ransom, but for torture. There would be nothing better than for him to hurt Kay's daughter in front of her, thereby torturing them both. Maybe some others would want to do the same thing.

She had another sip of her tea, crossing her feet at her ankles underneath the chair. Unfortunately for [member="Connor Harrison"] , she had very little for them to go on for the search. "I'm sorry, but I don't have much to work with. We were in Coquitlam on Bakura when she was taken from me. She was five. All else that I can give you is her description. Oh...and she was Force sensitive."

Being ever so sly, Connor switched the topic back to Veiere. Now it was Kay's turn to frown. "I do know him. He's been in my employment for a few years, as my bodyguard and advisor. He even gave me some training. He was fighting for the people of Atrisia when I was captured, and when I was brought back...well he did what he could to protect some of my former staff." She sipped her tea as she stared off at nothing in particular. "I may have not rembered him, but our bond was still there. He helped me to remember during our secret meetings. A certain sect of the Sith had been keeping an eye on me, but I think that they have lost interest as my captor did. Veiere had proposed to me on Ession during a conclave. If we waited until it was safe, then we'd never get married. I just have to formalize everything first." She looked over to Connor, wondering if her answer was satisfactory or not.

 

[Connor Harrison]

"Give me everything. Here." He pulled a chip form his breast pocket and tossed it across the table. "Upload everything you have on her there. And I'll do what I can."

He licked his lip and looked across to the window.

"Well I think you're making a mistake. That's nothing to base marriage on. Settling for the only good thing you've known without even looking off world or giving fate a chance. I don't see it ending well at all." He turned back, a smile on his face. "Still, you failed as a Sith didn't you so now you're going back to the Queen who sees good in all and becomes a door-mat."

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay picked up the chip that [member="Connor Harrison"] threw. She then got up from the table and headed over to her desk to fetch her datapad. She inserted the chip and brought up the file on Rae-Anna, downloading the only image that she had of her, as well as the small amount of details that she had. Before returning, she removed the chip and set her datapad down.

But Kay only got halfway to the table before she stopped, hearing Connor's thoughts on her upcoming marriage, as well as his view on her supposed failures. "You don't know me well enough to decide on whether or not I'm making a mistake. I did meet Veiere offworld, on Alzoc III. He's not Commenori." She clenched her jaw in a bid to contain the anger as Connor seemed to belittle her trauma. "I didn't choose what happened to me! I didn't choose the months of ongoing torture! I didn't choose to be a Sith puppet! But I did choose to break free. I did choose to help myself! I am not a doormat! I run my own life and my own planet! What do you do, Connor, huh? Take orders from others, run away when things get boring or prove too challenging? That's cowardly. And trying to blackmail me into sleeping with you is a desperate act from a desperate man! You are the failure. Not me...not me." She huffed and stepped over to the table, grabbing her tea cup and having a sip while remaining on her feet. Instead of giving Connor the chip however, she palmed it instead. No doubt her words would have an effect on him.

Always an argument. The two never saw eye to eye. Today proved to be no different.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Pushing up from his chair, Connor met her glare with a firm one of his own.

"Cowardice? You call me a coward? Kay you are one of the biggest cowards I’ve known. You are still here, on this backwards world and doing what? Now getting married because you feel you have nothing else. No future. No power. Nothing."

He stepped around the chair.

"You had it all right there, and what did you do? You lost it. You were sitting on a power only a few get to hone in on, and you wasted it. And to think I was this close to helping you become something great."

He held his hand out.

"Give me the chip. And it wasn’t blackmail. I wanted you so I gave you my price. That’s not cowardice. That’s being forward."

His fingers snapped.

"The chip."

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay raised a brow as [member="Connor Harrison"] insinuated that she was doing nothing with her life and that marriage was going to end it. He couldn't be more wrong. He had to of known that.

She blinked as he spoke of his belief, that she had gotten something that few ever did. That was a lie. It wasn't as though she was given some great gift. And who was he to think that he could be her guide when he too was amungst change?

She then looked down at his hand as he held it out, doing her best not to scoff at him, especially as he snapped his fingers as though she was some servant of his. Kay closed her hand on the chip and held it behind her back. "I have more than you'll ever have. I am a Queen of an expanding empire, with billions under me. I have a growing military at my beck and call with more allied powers than you could ever dream of. I have a man that wants me not just for an evening, but for the rest of my life, and in that moment we are wed, he will gain the same political power and command that I have. And what do you have, Connor? You are alone. You serve under others until it doesn't suit you anymore, until you get bored. You have a hole inside you that you are desperate to fill. You are broken by your own doing, trying to dig your way out of a trap, but instead you are only ensuring that you can never escape."

Kay had another sip of her tea. She was angry, but keeping it under control. "I am my own Master, Connor. It seems as though jealousy is yours." Still she made no move to give him the chip. She was changing her mind.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor glared at her as she spoke. She knew the words to cut his pride deeper than a blade. He felt it there, bubbling away inside.

The anger. The rage.

"Your over-confidence will be your undoing. It will be Commenor’s undoing."

He shook his hand, extended to her still.

"Give me the chip. Last time I will ask."

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay took a step forward, her eyes holding [member="Connor Harrison"] 's glare as though she was challenging him. In truth, she was. "And who is going to be a part of my undoing and that of Commenor? You? You are part of the First Order and we are allies. Harming me or my world will do far worse for you."

She kept her hand behind her back. Why did he want it so badly? Why now did he want to find her daughter so badly? More than likely it was to hurt her. "Is there anything important on this chip, outside of what I had just put on it?"

 

[Connor Harrison]

His eyes went a little darker, a little tighter. Was she now threatening him? After all he had done for her?

He looked to the chip, and then to Kay.

It did have some...information on it, but would it mean anything to the Queen? Probably not. But...could he risk it?

"You asked for help. I said I would help. Now you're toying with me. I don't like that."

Connor lurched forward and backhanded the tea cup from her hand, sending it smashing into the window, as shards sprinkled the floor and brown tea ran down the pane.

"Stop playing games and let me do what you dragged me here for. I've not got time to play your games."

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

"The price for your help is not something that I'm willing to pay. And I don't want you to hang that over my head." The last thing that she needed was for [member="Connor Harrison"] to have something on her that he could use against her. Much like her secrets that even Veiere didn't know.

He threw the cup against the window. Out of instinct, she stepped back, tightening her grip on the chip as she kept it behind her and out of his reach. "I didn't drag you here for this! I was checking up on you as I was in the area and I considered you a friend. That's what friends do. But don't worry about it. I'll go to Bakura on my own. I need more tea leaves anyways." She was on friendly terms with their leadership anyways. Surely she wouldn't be denied access to adoption records.

 

[Connor Harrison]

With a sigh, Connor dropped his hand and hung his head, stepping forward to close the gap.

"We are friends. But you need to learn to loosen up and not be so serious all the time. You won’t make a good wife that way."

And with his left arm, he shot out, grabbed the Queen by her side and pulled her in, taking the kiss she never returned from their time on Commenor. He held her body close, and felt her resist.

It was then he snaked his right arm around to ease her hand open and snatch the data chip away, depending on how much she put up a fight to push him off or secure the chip.

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

His sigh and drop of his head caused her to relax just a little. Was [member="Connor Harrison"] finally coming to his senses?

Won't make a good wife that way? Something about the way that he said that made her question just who he means that she would be a wife for.

A split second later, she was in his grip, his lips on hers. She placed her free hand on his chest to push him back, just as his other hand went behind her to try to pry open her fingers. Yet she did what any lady is supposed to do in that situation. She turned her head to break the kiss and kneed Connor in the groin. "STOP IT!"

 

[Connor Harrison]

Her hand was partly open and he felt the chip on his fingers, but then he felt something else far worse.

The pain made him convulse at once, double over and dropped to bended knee as the sickness shot right to his gut.

His body went warm and he winced in pain as he seethed, clenching his fist and hugging his body in a small ball to stem the agony.

He looked up at her, eyes dark and full of loathing for her as she attacked him. Letting it take over, he wobbled a little but shot up and forward to Kay, hand out for her throat to clamp on and push her back, dragging or falling, into the side wall with a crunch.

It was there he would rip her hand to the side to get that chip as he squeezed her neck tight.

[member="Lady Kay"]