Private The Apple and The Tree

[Lina Ovmar]

The lush carpet softened her footfalls as she strode through the corridor, toward her study. The modest house on Corva Yag had been easy to obtain and granted her a place from which she could begin her work removing the governors of this world. It wasn't overly lavish, but it spoke loudly enough for one who had earned her fortune over the years. The door to her study was open the warm glow of a fire in the hearth spilling out into the corridor.

Lina stepped inside, closing the door behind her and leaning against it with a heavy sigh as she looked down at the crumpled letter in her hand. Sarlow's letter. It had only been a matter of time, that much she had always known. He may have been a loving fool, but his father was not, and Carnifex would never have allowed him to become a pawn on her schemes.

Still.

She lifted her gaze to the room, a large mahogany desk with great windows behind it granted her a view of the house's gardens and beyond, two chairs set before it for guests. On the other side of the room, two wingback chairs rested before a fire, a small table set between them. A carafe of red wine already set upon it.

With two glasses.

So absorbed in her thoughts, so lost to her own mind she hadn't noticed…she hadn't felt him. Careless. The rumours that had been flying, the agents that had turned up a drooling mess from his meddling leaving a trail where he went. Jared Ovmar never did anything by accident, he was never so careless as to leave behind clues.

She pushed herself off the door, her mother's lightsaber slipping into her fingers as she moved.

“Of all the nights,” she commented, moving around the chairs to face him “should I really be surprised that this would be the one you chose to stop hiding in the shadows?”

She glowered at him.

“Hello, father.”

 

[Jared Ovmar]

He smiled as he looked up at her but it never reached his eyes.

Few things ever did.

If you considered the eyes are the windows to ones soul you can draw quite a lot of conclusions off of that.

"Is that any way to greet your long lost father?" Ovmar responded while watching her lazily. His eyes briefly flicked to the lightsaber, her lightsaber, and then back to Lina. "But no, you shouldn't be surprised, I am known for my comedic timing and flair for the dramatic." He gestured towards the seat opposite of him.

"Come now, sit, enjoy the wine with me. We have never actually spoken, eye to eye, in the flesh."

Something did flicker in his eyes there at least, but it was gone so soon it might have never existed in the first place.

"How have you been, darling daughter mine?"

Lina Ovmar

 

[Lina Ovmar]

Lina gave a derisive snort, setting the lightsaber on the mantle piece, its partner floating from her belt to join it. A symbol, that for now, perhaps, she was willing to listen. Or perhaps that she didn't need them to kill him. Emerald eyes regarded him coldly, eyes that she had not been born with. Eyes that should have been blue like his. "I see we're going with 'long lost father' and not the truth of...shall we say 'abusive' or perhaps 'wastrel'? No I don't think either of those quite encompasses the magnitude of your failings where fatherhood is concerned."

She stepped forward, dropping the letter on the table and picking up the carafe of wine and giving it a sniff. It was an expensive one, not that Lina stocked much else. She cast him a sideward almost wary glance. She wouldn't put it above him to poison her in her own home, but then it wasn't exactly his style either. She poured them both a glass starting with his, before her own. She might despise him, but she at least had manners to serve her guest first, no matter how unwelcome.

"You had every opportunity to come and find me after she died. Actually you had every opportunity to find me while she was still breathing, but then what use was a child, to the great Lord Ovmar, if only to serve as a plaything, hmm?"

She plucked her glass from the table and settled into the seat opposite him. "You know perfectly well how I've been faring, you've been watching me, leaving a delectable trail of broken Hands in your wake. They are expensive to train, I'd appreciate if you left them with some semblance of use to me."

Jared Ovmar

 

[Jared Ovmar]

Lina Ovmar

He chuckled softly as he accepted the glass from her and watched her with curiosity.

"Abusive? Come now, Lina, we are all adults here. We don't have to use flashy words to appeal to emotion." His hand curled a bit tighter around the glass before seemingly moving to take a sip. "I was in your life to the extent your mother allowed it and all I was doing was trying to prepare you for a Galaxy cruel and merciless."

He took note of her eyes, strange that.

"Until you shut me out anyway. Why would I come and find you after that? You were not interested in my guidance, in my lessons. What would the point have been to chase you and your mother? There were plenty of sentients eager to take on my lessons instead. I have acolytes all across the Galaxy. In many rooms, in halls of power, in the dark gutters." A thin smile appeared. "I was never one to chase those uninterested."

"I loved your mother but she was rather... unstable. Even just as a whisper in your ear, she fled into the night with you. I dared not to think what she would do if she realized the extent of my reach. The knowledge that I could squeeze my hand at any time, well, it might have pushed her off the ledge completely taking you with her."

Honeyed words, delivered smoothly, all paternal concern and with no hesitation.

"Oh, but they were rather rude in their questioning. I merely educated them in the importance of caution." Another telegraphed sip. "I hear you have been causing a ruckus with our dear Lord Zambrano's spawn. Hearts broken, loyalty slipping... the apple does not fall far from the tree, does it?"

And there the first grin appeared.

Back in the old days Ovmar had often been accompanied by that grin. Mischievous, lighthearted and even warm. These days they were far apart, but one could almost see why even someone like Anaya had been taken in by him all that time ago.

Before it all turned to chit.

 

[Lina Ovmar]

Lina watched him carefully, noting every tightening of a muscle, ever shadow that passed behind those hollow eyes, her cold smile fixed in place. "Oh of course, how could I be so ungrateful, between you and my dear mother's physical torture you both equally prepared me." She shook her head and looked away from him, the fire reflecting in her eyes as she stared at it unseeing, taking a sip from the glass, before exhaling a sigh from her nose.

"She was only unstable because you made her so, lets not forget your hand in all of this. You took what the Lord of the One Sith started and you broke her." Her gaze slid back to him, a cold indifference glittering in her eyes "You never gave me the chance to know you." she said softly "My only connection was with a disembodied voice that liked to play games with my mind, shutting you out was my only option."

She took a breath and let a sigh out of her nose. "What does it matter now anyway. I survived, in spite of both of you."

Her eyes dropped to the letter, a flicker of emotion passing behind her eyes before vanishing to be replaced with a steely gaze. "Sarlow served his purpose." A smirk tugged at the corner of her lips at his grin. "I am a free woman, nestled firmly in the heart of the Sith Order where webs can be weaved and strings pulled."

Lina took another sip, of wine relishing in the flavour. "Becoming an enemy of the Kainite is hardly new to me."

Jared Ovmar

 

[Jared Ovmar]

He shrugged softly.

"Not on purpose." Thinking back to the day he had fractured Anaya's already fragile mind utterly. "I was young then. I did not know the full extent of my power nor its influence on people's minds. I had been trying to fit the shards of her mind back together, but I was impatient and was not careful enough while attempting it."

His own gaze far-off as if recollecting that moment fully before returning back to her once more.

"That is not me making excuses. I did break her mind and pushed her off the ledge fully, I acknowledge my role in it. But I loved her... perhaps the only woman I truly loved for all this time." He put the glass down as he thought back to the good times. Those existed too. Rare specks of starlight in the dark clouds that had formed their eventual relationship.

"I was not 'playing' with you, Calina. I was testing you, preparing you. But perhaps to an uneducated mind those things look alike." A curl of distaste there.

It disappointed him that she was not able to receive the education she so deserved. Anaya had been many things; a powerhouse, a wicked sharp mind, but by no means was Fen ever someone well-educated or well-rounded in her intelligence. The same could be said about Ovmar. He had grown up on the streets, in the filth and gutter, before Spencer picked him up all those decades ago.

Part of him regretted that he wasn't able to give Calina what had been denied him.

"A free woman." He echoed gently, his cheek resting on tented fingers. "Tell me, how is one free when they still show their allegiance to one Emperor or the other? Or are you claiming you do not have to bow and scrap in front of this Corpse Emperor?"

Lina Ovmar

 

[Lina Ovmar]

There was a sadness that grew in Lina's eyes, at the use of her full name. She hadn't ben called that since her mother had been alive. Her gaze drifted to the lightsabers... her lightsabers. Tools she should have replaced years ago, but the connection she felt to them, despite her hatred for Anaya Fen, was too deep.

"An uneducated little girl, whose mother would torture her for every toe stepped out of line." Her gaze snapped back to him, her lips a thing line. A childish though passed her at his words, that he loved her mother...but did he ever love her? She took a larger gulp of wine, then cleared her throat shaking it away. "I built barriers strong enough to keep you out, and that has served me well. So I guess I got something out of it." She said dismissively, setting her own glass down on the table, her arms coming to rest on those of the chair.


"Choice is what makes me free. I have no real allegiance to any of them, but neither am I above bowing to those more powerful than I, nor am I arrogant enough to believe that there is nothing to be gained from any of them." She offered a small smile. "Sometimes paying the game, instead of working around it can have its benefits."

She leaned forward just a little. "Why are you here, father? What has changed that makes me worthy of your attention?"

Jared Ovmar

 

[Jared Ovmar]

His head shifted slightly as that thought passed her mind.

Her mind was a fortress, he couldn't slip into any of the knots and crevices because there weren't any. But Lina was his daughter and Jared was one of the finest mentalists of this age. If he couldn't even glimpse the shape of some of her more intense thoughts he wouldn't be very good at what he did. His eyes remained on hers, thoughtful, but he didn't answer that thought of hers.

What would Ovmar say to it anyway?

Of course, I love you.
I drowned my love for you the day you shut me out.
I have thought of you every day at least once.
Each time my thoughts went to you I strangled them at the crib.

All of them would be both true and lies at once. None of it would help her... so he said nothing at all. Wasn't that the true hallmark of love? Leaving behind your own emotional needs in favor of what your daughter needed most.

"Do not be arrogant, daughter." He finally said, opting for a lesson instead. "There is no barrier that is insurmountable. No fortress that cannot be breached. The fact that I have not tried to enter your mind's eye does not mean I cannot." He gently tapped his head. "Never grow complacent in the belief you have mastered your defenses. The fact that I shall not, does not mean nobody else will come around who might try... and surprise you."

The lessons in her youth had been smaller. Do not touch that, do not befriend him, say hello to her. Things of that nature. Guidance given with criticism and never praise.

It seemed some things did not change. Not even with time.

Ovmar watched her as she extolled the virtues of playing the game. Yet he did not correct her there, because while he was a hypocrite, even Jared had his limits. Few they may be. After all, if anyone had played the game and played it well it had been himself. He would not, could not find it in himself to argue about that at least.

"The events of recent days were the first time that I saw something of myself in you." He murmured softly. "A heart breaker, destroyer of trust and allegiance. All to pursue your own interests."

A crooked smile.

"Even if said interest is simply a more interesting romantic partner." Ovmar had broken so many hearts over the years he could hardly remember them all. Yes, it had made him proud to see that Calina hadn't been so infatuated with the Zambrano spawn she didn't pursue her desires in spite of her vows regardless.

"So I wished to talk to you, hear you..." Crooked smile turned to a smirk. "...and see if you'd be tempted to end me the way you kept promising to your own pillow late at night, cursing me for every perceived wrong I have dealt you."

Lina Ovmar

 

[Lina Ovmar]

Suddenly she was a little girl again, the tone of his voice so familiar yet so alien to her ears, the criticism so precise and unarguable that she felt suddenly very small in his presence. Insignificant, as her tore down a barrier of sorts, armour raised to protect herself, armour that had seen far too many crack forming of late. She felt a lump form in her throat and dropped her gaze from him, swallowing it away.

She was growing soft, Leilah had made her soft, she had given in to her please to save her father and that had led to her capture. That had led her to Sarlow, that had seen Lucia brought into this world.

Love had made her soft.

"You know I spent so long trying to avoid being either of you. staying out of the fray, living a simple life. Keeping off the radar. It was dull. Unfulfilling." control of herself regained she looked back at him "But what point is there in denying the truth of who I am, when giving into it is so much more rewarding." She mirrored his smirk.

Like father like daughter indeed.

"I haven't decided if you're of use to me yet. If entertaining this and your conversation is going to serve anything beyond bittersweet nostalgia." she shrugged. "I still might, either way."

Jared Ovmar

 

[Jared Ovmar]

Lina Ovmar

"That does sound dull, yes, the Galaxy is far too interesting to just live a simple life. We are not made for those sort of pursuits. Neither was your mother."

The closest she'd get to praise from him at this point. Acknowledgement she picked the right path by accepting who she was... and who she was not. It took a strong person to realize their own identity and carry it with pride.

But there she coaxed out the first true laugh from him.

A rare event indeed. Once upon a time Jared had laughed and smiled and more frequently. The older he got the less he trusted the sound of his own laughter however. It was a showcase of vulnerability that he rarely allowed himself anymore. But she was so... him and so her mother. It was just too amusing to see unfold in front of him.

"Force you remind me of her." He says as the chuckling subsided. "Bold as fething brass. She would spit in the Emperor's eye and demand to be thanked for it."

His hands spread out.

"What makes you think I wish to be of use to you? Maybe I am the one who has a use for you, Calina."

 

[Lina Ovmar]

After so many years of not knowing him, of wanting to both kill him and for him to be a part of her life, Lina could not help the small swell of pride at his acknowledgement. Pathetic, she thought to herself, but it did nothing to lessen the feeling.

She saw something in his laugh, a brightness in the way the corners of his eyes crinkled. A life lived the way he wanted to...and a man once young that might have ccaptured Twi'leks heart.

It brought the first genuine smile to her own eyes.

If he thought that was bold...

"I think if I didn't try to make use of you, you'd be disappointed." She retorted. "And if you do have a use for me, then perhaps we can come to an agreement."

She let the words hang searching his face for something, perhaps she was hoping he would be...someone she could trust? She almost laughed at the absurdity of it. She could not trust him, but he did have access to resources she was in desperate need of. She plucked her wine from the table.

"Would you like to help me move the production of trihexalon to Corva Yag?"

Jared Ovmar

 

[Jared Ovmar]

He inclined his head.

"That's entirely true, yes. I do enjoy boldness... in careful measures." It was a soft warning at that. Compared to the warnings he gave in the past to others it was practically gentle. But it did speak to the fact that she shouldn't push it too hard. There were limits to his grace. Something many people had learned in the past.

"Mm, that's a word I haven't heard in a while."

From his memory Ovmar recalled that Anaya had been quite fond of that material in the past. She had used it on numerous occasions and attempted to use it on many more.

"What do you require the production of something like that for?" Eyebrows raised a fraction in curiosity. "There are only a few things hex is good for, Lina. In a way you have to respect Hex. It doesn't pretend to be anything it is not. Just... a weapon of mass destruction. Even in its most basic and small forms."

There was not even a hint of judgement in his tone however.

When he had been much younger than her he had driven a whole arena of sentients insane with just a stray thought of his mind. They had been Fringe citizens too, certainly not on of his prouder moments.

But it meant that he had little illusions about the sanctity of life.

Lina Ovmar

 

[Lina Ovmar]

His quiet warning to her almost felt like a dare to test the limits of his patience and had she been younger, she may have taken him up on it. Instead she merely smiled, taking another sip of her wine.

"I'm well aware of what Hex is, what its limits are. I'm also aware of what power control over the source of a substance can have." She purser her lips contemplating him for a momentas if deciding whether trusting him was a wise move or not.

"War is coming the core. War requires weapons and the need for weapons is a wonderful tool for generating profit." She swirled the last of wine gently in her glass.

"I also want to use it to burn as big a hole as I can in the Malsheems inhabitants. Kaine Zambrano has sat upon his seat of untouchable for far too long."

She downed the last of the glass, setting it back upon the table with a gentle thud.

"And I owe him, dearly."

Jared Ovmar

 

[Jared Ovmar]

Lina Ovmar

He would argue that power did not reside in whatever you did or did not possess. Was a dirt poor scavenger any less dangerous to the right kind of person than a dictator with a whole army behind them? It was a matter of perspective and the right situation at the right time. However Jared did not want to be overly negative. He probably already criticized the poor girl too much in the very first meeting they have had since her youth.

It was hard to kill old habits.

"Mm... our dear Kaine has a wonderful way of making enemies, does he not?" Thoughtful as he tapped his fingers against the arm of his chair. "Strangely enough he never actively crossed me or vice versa."

Which meant that if Jared assisted Lina in this manner he'd most likely draw Kaine's ire.

This in itself did not worry him all too much. He had faced down many threats over the decades. What was one more enemy on the list? Besides there was a thing called plausible deniability. If he only agreed to assist with the move of the Hex he could always claim later he had no idea what Lina was planning with it.

Ovmar did love plausible deniability.

"I do not see why I couldn't assist you with the move of some dangerous substances. What is a father's duty if not assisting his daughter with such matters?" Then a little smile. "However, I question the odds of actually getting it on Kaine's world-craft and even if you do manage to get it on it, getting enough on it to permanently cripple it."

He tilted his head slightly in curiosity.

"Tell me, how are you going to manage that?"

 

[Lina Ovmar]

"Technically," Lina said softly, "I made an enemy of him, this is just an ongoing rivalry though..." She gestured at the letter, still lying crumpled on the table, "The only way Sarlow would know any of my movements and actions would be because of him, and that has cost me far more than I would have liked."

A darkness passed behind her eyes, pain overshadowed by a quiet fury. Long gone were the days that Lina would act on the impulse of her anger, she had learned the hard way, that even in taking revenge every step had to be carefully planned, every move measured. For a moment, she disappeared, lost deep in thought, her gaze settling on the fire as Lucia's face passed through her mind. Innocent and pure, the only joy she would ever bring to the galaxy.

Her father's words drew her back to the room and she chastised herself quietly for letting herself relax in his presence. He was an enigma, a part of her past that she did not know if she would ever fully be able to trust.

A devilish smile spread across her lips, that he would agree to help her was a step in the right direction. However, she wondered what he would need in return, she was not so stupid as to believe that he would do any of this out of mere duty.

"I'm going to use one of mothers creations to get it on board during an assault."

Jared Ovmar