Private The Princess & The Wolf

[Quinn Varanin]

//: Gerwald Lechner //:
//: Attire //:

This was the meeting she had been dreading. The Wolf had been the one that allowed the Princess to try and bring Susevfi into the folds of the Empire alone. They didn't know what awaited her, and despite her efforts, she became the source of a galactic crisis. The Empire had sent everything to retrieve her; even the Mors Mon had blocked out the sun. Quinn's failures drew the Empress from her home - putting her in danger.

Slowly, Quinn walked down the long hallway; she was only left with the sound of her heels against the metallic flooring. It was daunting, and she partially wished Srina had given her the upcoming lecture. She feared the Wolf would see her failures as a liability and have the young Echani removed from the Second Legion. The thought made her fists clench, but it was understandable; her mistakes brought the deaths of hundreds of loyal Sith soldiers unnecessarily. Quinn stopped and stared at the doors that led to Gerwald's office.

The Princess frowned; she needed to face her mistakes. It was nice that at least Gerwald waited till she was almost fully healed. She knew this would be a disaster and wished she hadn't gone to that cursed planet Susevfi. Quinn felt her anger rising, knowing that everything would have been different if she had only thought her actions through. If she had brought someone with her, a small squad, or even Kaila with her.

Again, there was no reason to ruminate on the what-ifs of what the Princess could have done differently. All she could do now was deal with the aftermath of it all. The one good thing that happened through everything was that the entire Empire heard the claim of the Empress. Quinn was the Empress' daughter, and because of this, she knew she needed to grow and become stronger. Not only did Eshan weigh on her shoulders, but she felt the weight of the entire Empire.

Fractured as it was, she was their Princess.

Guards would nod to her and allow her into the office of the Wolf. Stepping in, despite everything that had happened leading up to this, Quinn held her head high. With her pride and the legacy she carried, the Princess had to continue forward.

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

TAG: Quinn Varanin

The summons had waited long enough. Gerwald had the time he needed to calm himself, and Quinn had what she needed to recover. He had avoided her mostly, outside of checking in on her well being the requisite amount to avoid appearing unfeeling or uncaring. Neither were true of course. The Dread Wolf wore his emotions on his sleeves, especially to those who knew him. It was rare that the beast hid what he thought or felt. It was better that those opposite him knew where they stood with him. Why make someone feel safe when they were not, and why make someone feel in danger if they were not.

Her steps echoed down the hall. Gerwald could hear them through the door. Even with the soundproofing on the ship, the Wolf's sense of hearing picked up sounds others would not detect. It would take more material and effort to completely prevent Gerwald from hearing what was happening on his ship. It was better his crew did not know how well he could hear them.

Blue eyes looked up to regard the Echani as she walked into the office. Her head was lifted, her chin held at just the right height. Etiquette, training, and breeding, shown through every movement she made, and the posture she held when she stood still. The beast could not help but take pride in the princess. Despite recent events, her radiance was not diminished. Yet, Gerwald did not smile. This was not a happy moment, even if he was not angry with her.

With a firm gesture, Gerwald commanded her to sit. There was nothing in his body language which made it optional. For the moment, she was not a princess, she was another member of his legion, one which would give an account for her actions on Susevfi. The conversation they were about to engage in would determine if the Echani could grow, or if she could not. There would be no room in his ranks for those that could not learn from their mistakes. They were going to take Susevfi regardless of how it happened, but Quinn failed to bring it about as she had claimed.

Would she know why, or would she blame others for her own failings?

The Dread Wolf sighed. Neither one of them had been looking forward to this exchange, and both of them likely knew it. In truth, Gerwald liked Quinn. He believed she had potential. None of it was informed by the fact her godmother was the empress of the Sith Order, or his mistress. The Echani had earned his respect without her connections. It was incumbent on her to maintain it without them.

Gerwald would not treat her differently because of who she was, or she was connected to.

It was why he was the perfect mentor for her during this season.

"You live."

I am happy to see you have recovered.

"From the beginning. I need to know that you know why you failed."

 

[Quinn Varanin]

//: Gerwald Lechner //:
//: Attire //:

The Princess wasn't used to the gesture for her to sit. Here, she quickly learned that her titles didn't matter to the Wolf. Her feelings were torn on the matter. On the one hand, she was happy to finally just be a person who belonged in a group, but on the other hand, she felt disrespected by his actions. Quinn took the seat, her posture remaining, her head held high despite the matters. Her Mother trusted the man on the other side of the desk; therefore, the Princess had no reason not to trust him.

Still, the woman felt like a child sitting before her father. Her eyes took a moment to meet his gaze, unsure if she could keep the tears of shame from falling. Their eyes met, and an understanding formed; Quinn knew while she was in trouble that Gerwald was a benevolent master. He was here to teach and mentor, not to punish. Nerves settled, and she nodded, listening to the brief commands he gave her. Another indication that she was not a princess here was that she was not the Empress's daughter; she was one of his - and he gave her a chance for atonement.

"I do." She responded. Quinn Varanin lived by only the will of the Empress. A part of her wondered if it was the Force's will as well, but knowing her Mother, it was pure disobedience. The Force did not will Srina Talon; she willed the Force. This was a status that the Echani Princess could only dream of now, but one day.

She shifted uncomfortably, taking a moment to gather her thoughts. Despite knowing that this was the conversation they would have, she still did not enjoy talking about it. Quinn sighed, taking a minute, and soon, she spoke, her voice not wavering, remaining confident in her initial choice of plan.

"The choices I made set the mission for failure. Simply put, I was confident in my abilities only because of who I am and what I represent. I should have asked for help and not wave off the support you were offering." She wanted to look away, feeling the twisted knot of her shame taking form in her chest. Quinn continued to look at the Wolf, "My ego was my worst enemy. I arrived on Susevfi dressed in the riches of royalty when I should have met them as an equal, not a tolerant autarch." She remembered the look on their faces when she arrived. Quinn knew she foolishly looked the other way from the darkened faces of the crowds. They hated her and everything she represented.

"I took their resentful glares as a challenge, a chance for me to show my worth and make a difference like I needed to do." the silken fabric of her pants creased under her fists. The desire to prove that she was worth everything that came with her existence, the legacy that sat upon her shoulders, and the last name that had struck fear into the galaxy. Everything felt stacked against the young Echani.

"I put my trust too easily, hoping that kindness and compassion would be enough to sway the masses. I failed to assess my situation; I should have known that the emotions I was pushing away from me were dangerous. I failed because my hubris felt I knew better. My desire to…" Her voice faltered for a moment, and she gritted her teeth, trying not to lose her composure. A moment passed, and the Princess sighed, doing what she was trained and taught to do.

Perfection.

"My desire to prove myself to be more than a bargaining tool for politics or a figure to bring favor to the Echani Government. I made this mission about me and not about the Empire and not about the people I wanted to help."

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

TAG: Quinn Varanin

“Good.”

The exchange was brief on that matter, but not lacking. Quinn lived, and while the Dread Wolf could not call her his daughter, she was his charge. In a way, she was a daughter of the legion itself which made her more than just his. The Echani would come to learn this the longer she stayed among them. The culture Gerwald was building on his ship, among the Second Legion, was one of community. They belonged to the legion, and because they belonged to the legion, they belonged to each other. A few nights of drinking and reverie, a raid or two, would not be enough to see it.

Had she known the entire Legion had surrounded Susevfi, for her?

Gerwald crossed his arms as he listened to Quinn explain what she believed to be her reason for failing. A nod indicated she was partly correct. His assessment would come when she was finished detailing what was going through her mind. Quinn was accurate about her hubris, however, what Sith was without it. Her mistake had been that she allowed it to blind her.

“You could have gone to them as an equal, but was that the message we wanted to send? Our goal was to take Susevfi. You wanted them to join our fold by seeing the Sith Order was a better alternative to what they currently suffered. That was not going to happen if you went in as an equal. You needed to be benevolent, not tolerant.”

Perhaps she would see the irony in his words. It was not like Sith to be benevolent, not unless there was something they could gain from it. Susevfi was likely not a prize worth the amount of generosity which would have been required to sway the people, not when all of them had been under the weight of such oppressive poverty for so long.

No, had Quinn arrived as an equal they would not have believed she could offer them a solution. Yet her opulence had been a deterrent.

“Had I gone with you, I would have caused a riot. My presence would have been seen as an act of hostility. Had your goal been to subjugate them, to crush them, and force Susevfi to bend to our will, we should have just raided them.”

The Wolf was not scolding her, but rather pointing out her method required more of her than she could have seen. It had been this way with the Confederacy. When they entered a world as the benevolent benefactor, they had to go all out. Even Srina Talon had been known to put on quite the display. Quinn needed to understand the role she was undertaking. Gerwald needed her to understand it. Until she did, Quinn would not be able to see why the Second Legion had to play the villain.

She could play the role she had wanted to on Susevfi, but after the beasts had taken what they wanted.

“You did make the mission about you, but you were not there to help the people. You were there to convince them the Sith Order was better. Raiding them first, they would have accepted you no matter the mistakes you made.”

Maybe now she would see. Perhaps Quinn would understand her role.