What Was Sundered And Undone

[Darth Carnifex]

​

Fortress of Ka'desh, off the Coast of Cule
Panatha

The waves lapped at the shores of Ka'desh, a small island somewhere off the coast of Cule within sight of the greater Panathan supercontinent, splashing high into the air and spraying the steep cliffs with white foam. A multitude of structures had been built upon the island, many of them thousands of years old and had existed since the reign of the near-mythical king Canthar. Though fundamentally a territory of the Khedal Viceroyalty, Ka'desh had been transferred to the control of the Zambrano family shortly following their ascension to the Arch-Throne in 836 ABY.

It was here that the Emperor of the Sith retired to after the Siege of Mandalore, taking leave of his Empire but for a moment to tend to a matter close to his black heart. His shuttle touched down in the dead of night, witnessed by only those most loyal to him. From there he traveled deep beneath the island, where a Sith sanctum lay hidden far below the churning waves, known only to a select few residing on the island.

He commanded the others to leave him once he reached it, and they obeyed.

Alone, the Emperor entered the sanctum's heart.

Sitting upon an altar was the body of a woman, fully grown and well-endowed with beauty and magnificence. No clothing adorned her, and her limbs were bound by leather restraints that tied her to the stone upon which she rested. No life stirred within her, for she was as unliving as the day she was pulled from the cloning vat. The Emperor approached her slowly, drinking in the sight of her with every step. When he at last reached her, he removed a small black gem from a pouch cinched at his waist and placed it upon her chest, amidst the bifurcation of her breasts.

"Lehi doqim xi' Saziliebm'r uomk, behdik oboem xi' sazil'r kipomk."

[member="Gunnr Zambrano"]​

 

[Gunnr Zambrano]

The empty biological machine laid in supposed state, colour of flesh and honey-red hair the only differentiation between statuesque body and stone.

Death swirled round Gunnr, previously innocent of its’ sting. House Fitz Kierke was destined still for plenty. Ever plenty, of sorrow and of wealth. The Holy House of Qocia’s narrows never did feel the touch of mediocrity in its’ veins or cinders. While plenty reigned, they squared away their tithes to the lean times, which inevitably would hit harder than Zambrano’s many wars.

[member="Darth Carnifex"]’s booted feet struck at the innermost bastion in the unholy place. Sacred ground reverberated with the footfalls. A place of condemned magic, and fittingly holy space for the vessel laid on the stone. House Fitz Kierke’s loyal Panathan daughter rested, taken too quickly for her marriage to Kaine Zambrano to solidify the family’s post-Mandalore precarious position. Girak and the entire House returned to Panatha’s Holy City, once more Girak taking up the robes of a Deacon and praying at the feet of Nereus without ceasing.

Praying that the husband who claimed his granddaughter would do right eternal by the fallen wife. Word did not reach Girak from his prostrate place at the Temple’s Altar. His daughters behind him. Yet, the mainstay of House Fitz Kierke was always a firm faith in spiritual natures. The faithful were rewarded.

The faithful were rewarded. He whispered without ceasing, babbling prayers in Epicant unawares of the Emperor’s eyes taking in the body built with resplendent Fitz Kierke DNA.

Could any imagine the texture and elegance of Kaine Zambrano’s lilting mother tongue, when spoken in concern for his youngest bride? The words laid like silk over her naked body, as colour came to cheeks ashen with the film of death.

Gunnr’s ribcage swelled as her back arched off the cold stone. Body writhing under the discombobulation of her renewed form, the woman jerked and spasmed against the bonds holding her down. She barked, throat’s first sound ragged and unaccustomed to the atmosphere wafting over the folds of her vocal chords. The flow of her esophagus.

Teeth clanked together and fingers writhed to loose themselves of her bonds. The body drank her soul like water to dry ground, seeping it into itself as muscles and nerves fired as violently as her unfortunate, misbegotten death. Blue eyes cranked open, searching the gloom for any form of reference beyond the sounds resonating from the pitch of death’s black.

House Fitz Kierke; a house of plenty. Tragedy too came in its’ plenty, grief the Sith Emperor reversed.

“Kk-kkktt…” Gunnr’s teeth gnashed at the air, animal in its’ resurrected violence seeking the release of her bonds. The living woman roared, reborn in fealty to her own courage, as her eyes settled on that aged face of her direst love.

“K-Kk-Koe…” His presence washed over the shore of her cacophony, and the form which spent time in stillness began to calm even as breath heaved in her lungs. “Koemi pi’sazi…”

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Carnifex approached her, placing one hand in her own and squeezing reassuringly to soothe the shock that now ran through her body. Such rituals were always a blow to the systems, raw and visceral. The restraints were there for her own protection, so that she did not harm herself when she awoke.

When she had grown accustomed to her surroundings and her own strength, he would remove them, but for now they remained.

"Yoruo, izili'duemb er oslebud. I dask i'ay duod izili'duemb vaysk xi oslebud, kekm'd I?"

He reached out to caress her hair, rubbing the tips of his fingers along her cheek and chin as he held one of her hands comfortingly. His voice, though baritone and gruff, lent a soothing vibration as it rumbled from his body into her's.

"Hav ka i'ay hiis, sazi? Wuod ka i'ay lipipxil?"

[member="Gunnr Zambrano"]​

 

[Gunnr Zambrano]

Feral jerks of muscle and sinew combined with grunts. Vicious roars through gnashing teeth peppered the air. Gunnr jolted and shook, settling only when [member="Darth Carnifex"]’s hand stole the emptiness around her fingers.

Warm. His hand was warm as the voice rumbling into her ears. The syllables in their mother tongue brought calm to the beast in her, focusing Gunnr once more on the act of living. Breath eased in hyperventilating lungs.

Head leaning back against the stone, Gunnr tested her muscles first by clutching at her husband’s hand. Her pretty lips worked, as her cheek nuzzled into Kaine’s hand.

“... Koe... ” Gunnr hazarded a gulp, her back against the cold marble of the altar. “Dlavnemk... I lipipixil klavnemk omk xoem. A viebud klobbemk pi ymkis or i’ay... i’ay xaymk pi.”

His ashen skin and looming eyes were better comfort than any in half the worlds of the galaxy. Memories of their lives sparked like artillery at targets in her mind. Flashes of battles conquered, celebrations undergone. The birth of their children. Massive hands holding sons, boys climbing to sit on their father’s shoulders as Gunnr watched. The waves lapping at the beach while Gunnr and Kaine sat shoulder to shoulder, watching the moon rise. Chains cracked against her skin. She tore her eyes away from Carnifex’s, down to the bonds which held firm.

“I’ay rozik pi, sezi. I’ay mlaperik omk i’ay kirewilik.” Her body settled, plump and pristine. He’d done it. After Mircalla’s death, others whispered. He could always rely on other wives. Not all were worthy of the magics and efforts required for resurrection. Hand on her cheek, Carnifex held his bride. Effort was repaid with the breath in her lungs. She nuzzled closer, straining against the chains to reach for him.“Let me up?”

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"Oh vaylri, vuim uozi I izil seik?"

With a wave of his hands he unbound the restraints that contained his newest bride, the bonds unlocked with a pop from each limb before clattering to the ground. He scooped out hand under her buttocks, cradling the soft flesh while his other hand slipped behind her back, both lifting Gunnr up and into his embrace. He turned with her in his arms, carrying her down the steps and through the ritual chamber out into the deserted stone hall.

He walked slowly through the sanctum, his eyes never leaving those of his love's but his Sith intuition guiding him effortlessly. "I am pleased that the transition has gone smoothly." Spoke the Sith Emperor in Basic, a sharp departure from their mother tongue. "I had feared that the shock you had experienced would have permanently damaged your consciousness, what a relief that such fears were unfulfilled." The next door they reached opened at the Emperor's behest, leading into a resting chamber with a large bed, ornate dresser, and ancillary chamber replete with a full refresher. Carnifex lightly placed Gunnr down onto the bed, reaching down to brush his lips against hers in a deep and passionate kiss before parting.

"The dresser should have everything you require, my love. I vaysk imgai' vodvuemb i'ay klirr."

[member="Gunnr Zambrano"]​

 

[Gunnr Zambrano]

The woman burbled at the loss of restraint, hand brushing against wrist to check the flesh. New. Not a single scar. Eyes trailed down her navel to the tattooed lines of her matrimonial markings, House Zambrano and Fitz Kierke interposed in a sigil all their own. Kaine’s body bore similar markings, applied in the secret of their wedded union. Somehow, the perpetuity of the marks on her fledgeling skin centred Gunnr into the set of mighty arms which bore her.

“I’ay mizil seik. Mad da pi.” Her head sunk against his chest, arms reaching round his neck with a desperation she couldn’t fathom. Couldn’t place. Gunnr clung to Kaine, gasping as she buried her head in the crook of his shoulder and neck. A further weight lifted from her, the vestiges of the murderous past falling asunder for the dire love of the Dark Lord and his Panathan Lady.

No more loving only in the shadow.

“it feels… otherworldly to be here. Like I was caught inside a gigantic flinch. But death makes strange most things and…” Gunnr’s brow quirked, body seeping comfortably in [member="Darth Carnifex"]’s arms. Marks on his skin she remembered in ill times… no. Had they been there before? “… what happened, beloved? Why am I quaking with relief, like a long weight is passed over my shoulders?”

Finally in the arms of her beloved, Gunnr wept for a joy she thought she’d already known. A security and bastion in which no harm could seep.

“Why am I crying? This is a happy day, my husband loves me.” Rubbing her face in his chest, Gunnr looked up at her beloved, her plump lips upswept. “The shock, yes, it… it must be the shock… you feared for me, pi sezi? For me? My resurrection must have been quite the feat if it made even you tremble.”

Her hand snaked up to brush across his cheek, a sighing gasp echoing out of her lips at the feel of his skin. Finally… Finally, my love…

Seeping in the warmth of him until he set her down, Gunnr dragged her arms around his neck once more, pulling in for a kiss she refused to stop until she gasped for breath. The passion of the man, her God-King and husband, was well remembered. Yet now there felt a freedom there.

He wouldn’t let her feel the cold ache of death for long. His promise of life eternal was rectified in both action and seal of their kiss. There was nothing left for Gunnr to fear, all fear destroyed in their embrace. She laid upon the bed then, resplendent in her new joy, ribcage heaving with the breaths she refused while twined with her husband. Hair spilled about her, Gunnr felt along the curves of her skin, fingers gentle in their caress for the newness of all sensation.

“Mmh. Thank you, love. I’m certain you laid out everything I require to your own tastes.” She grinned and kicked playfully at his shoulder, rising up to her knees on the bed to stretch her arms above her ginger hair. “Ooooh, being dead does put a crick in the neck, eh? Or was that the stone?”

Gunnr pushed Kaine down to the bed, pressing one last kiss on his lips, before drawing her finger along his jaw. She tugged at him to lounge where he could see her as she padded over to the dresser and inspected the clothing there. Always the best, soft and strong. There were certainly perks to being royalty. As she stood in front of the dresser picking out pieces to wear, Gunnr felt the softness of a spider silk undergown in her hand. She pressed it to her cheek, sighing at its’ slip against her skin. Her red hair bobbed halfway down her back, freckles dotting happily along her cheeks and skin. Angled away from him, Gunnr turned her head and quirked an eyebrow.

“I love you. Haven’t said that yet, have I?” She wiggled her hips, sliding on appropriate underpinnings and making a game of every gesture. Every piece of clothing she enrobed upon her fresh skin. Gunnr chose a dress of red gossamer spidersilk, its’ slip and feel enough to make her feel like dressing was a dream. She slid on heeled boots, which once set on her feet made her eye to eye with her colossal husband.

Atop the dresser, a jewellery case opened to display a few choice jewels from Gunnr’s collection, some better remembered than others. Choosing a set of emeralds which matched Kaine’s natural eye, Gunnr set the necklace and bracelet on her décolleté and wrist. The earrings would have to wait, it seemed…

A soft scarf fell off one shoulder, the fabric pooling in the crooks of both elbows. She swerved and danced for the joy of it, hugging the scarf to her clothed body. Such freedom in life!

“How did you ever fall for such a silly wife?” Laughing giggles burbled out of the grinning woman as she flourished and sat back down on the bed beside her husband.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The Emperor watched her, drinking in her silhouette as she passed by and went to the dresser. Every movement was deliberately designed to entice, to tease, to allure, and he eagerly allowed himself to be swayed by her hypnotic dance.

She was his, all his.

At long last.

No more games, no more pretenses. The Dark Lord of the Sith had at last one his prize, coveting it voraciously as she began to cover herself in the most elaborate finery that his substantial wealth could procure. The garments she held were of his own choosing, decades of pampering and spoiling his other wives had given him an eye for female fashion. He knew what they liked, and he ensured that they had no shortage of glamorous outfits to further entice him with.

"How could I not? I have known you since you were young, on the cusp of coming into your own. I saw the spark within you that day, and it has blossomed into a radiant inferno ever since. Now that I have you in my grasp, you will never want for anything ever again. The galaxy is yours to shape, and I will be there to help guide you for all time."

He grasped her with his large calloused hands, eagerly embracing his new beloved with the fervor of an enthusiastic youth coupled with the refinement of an experienced gentlemen.

[member="Gunnr Zambrano"]​

 

[Gunnr Zambrano]

Motion. Beautiful motion emanated from the passion of a woman freed of all the shackles of past and future grief.

Horror was done. One might consider her position a wealth of those terrors which plagued the Sith Empire’s myriad enemies. Nightmare and pain a sigil no longer. Gossamer was the fabric upon her, in lieu of weighted sack-cloth or durasteel. Gone, to another life un-lived. Another time.

Nothing remained but Kaine’s eyes. His name lovingly taken from the Epicant, Koemi. Her Koe: A vestige from the Panathan dialects Gunnr picked up from her ill-fated cousin. Dressed in a gown crafted from the pinnacle of the tailor’s art, Gunnr preened on Koemi’s lap. Pretty wide-lidded eyes scanned the wandering gaze of the Dark Lord. Fingers brushed upon his cheeks, nestled raven locks out of his face, as she stroked the tattoo on his forehead.

She was his and no other’s. Locked without ceasing in the pleasure of knowing the heart of a man who had none for any others’ but their few. Koemi’s reward for the haunting resurrection was a bright-faced grin Gunnr previously was incapable of giving.

Gunnr inspected Kaine by centimetres. The syllables emanating from her husband’s voice blossomed into her ears, baritone and mighty. Promises of care and intimacy, of regency and dominion of the galaxy swept into the hammer and anvil of her ears in tandem with affection. He held her firm, excited but gentle.

The red head pressed her lips against his, seeped the heat of his body into limbs shivering from delight. From the buzz of living once more in absolute freedom. Gunnr burst into a vibrant laugh as she set her forehead against Kaine’s.

“Ours to shape…” Koemi opened his palms and gave without ceasing to his wives. Now cuddled in his arms, Gunnr believed every promise. She depended on his dotage, enjoying the honey of his gifts. It required a readjustment of her accoutrements in the moments after, worthwhile breaths and sighs gifted to the victorious man.

His beloved, finally without impediment. Her mind unfurled in its’ power, seeping the dark energies of the keep and surrounding landscape. Now in the quiet, Gunnr’s breath caught. She leaned against his chest, cheek on his shoulder.

“Koe?“ Memory taught her the Force was in all things, the Dark their ancestral right. The Dark expanded around her, protective, possessive and passionate. Her breath caught. Alongside the sensation of the Dark, came the rustling sounds of the ocean waves. She shot up, taking both his hands in hers. "The water... the water, Koemi, quick! We have to see it! I need... to see it... the waves."

[member="Darth Carnifex"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"Soon, sazil, very soon."

He laid there in the glow of bliss, his brow slickened by sweat which glinted serenely in the light. The scars of his past tribulations were expressly written upon his skin, a calligraphy of agony that detailed the fights that he had won, the injuries he had suffered, and the setbacks he had endured. Across his face was the scar of the fight with Master Sunstrider upon the snow-blasted peaks of Rhen Var, where a calamitous fall had busted one of his eyes. Beneath the waist was the worst of it, the entirety of his pelvis and legs covered by a grotesque jigsaw of healed scars where the rubble that had fallen upon him at Mandalore crushed every single bone below his belt.

But he had survived, he had recovered.

He walked among the stars of the galaxy with the implacable force of a tectonic plate, unstoppable and inevitable.

"There is nothing that can separate us now, no power in the galaxy. We are one."

[member="Gunnr Zambrano"]​

 

[Gunnr Zambrano]

“Promise, love?” Gunnr grinned into his shoulder, kissing the corrupted flesh of her beloved. Clothing so intricately chosen was cast aside for another collection of moments, strung out in rows before her newly impressionable mind. Life, even in the Darkness of the Sith Emperor, was abundant.

Life itself could not be defeated, when one returned again to trod the palace marble and grass of their jungle homeland. Yes, Kaine might not have been raised on Panatha as Gunnr, locked in Qocia’s traditionalism and that of House Fitz Kierke, but this was no less both their true homes.

“Nothing at all, darling. You fought and won, battled death and raucous galactic powers to come home. Home to me… you came home for me… the reality of it makes my heart want to burst in my chest. Nothing will ever separate us again. Not even death.” As true a home as their bodily and spiritual proximity: bonded both in matrimony and rebirth. [member="Darth Carnifex"]’s pretty bride grinned unabashedly, snuggled up to him in the sheets. Renewed fingers delighted on his skin in lackadaisical circles. They ribbed along the damage on his hips, welts and scar-lines unfamiliar to the woman who thought of all her knowledge, the lines of her beloved were impressed into her mind.

“I have no memory of these…” Worried eyes scanned from hip to natural eye, lips pouted in wonder.

“Who do I need to kill to repay for such wounds?” Gunnr’s throat growled, arm protectively securing around his waist. Her red hair spilled like a crimson cloak upon her shoulders and back. Hazy flickers of battle cascaded into her mind. Pieces of a dream she had once, one of the many she and Kaine shared when not in physical proximity during the night. Fantasies and horrors, battles won. Her hand touched upon a grotesque circle of flesh below his ribcage: a spear or rounded implement run through her husband’s flesh.

Gunnr growled louder, teeth clacking together.

“Tell me what revenge I can take upon the giver of these scars.”

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"There is no revenge you can derive that I have not already enacted, sazil. Those responsible have been dealt what they deserve."

Mind shielded from all intrusion, even from those closest to him, the Emperor thought about that battle in Sundari. The fierceness of their struggle had ultimately leveled the entire palace, her spear sliding under ribs to slice through flesh and tendon, while his own blade bit deep to spill her life essence upon it.

In the end he forgave her for what she had done to him, it ultimately served a greater purpose.

"The woman who inflicted these wounds you have no recollection of is dead, I gutted her where she stood." The words were spoken solemnly, his voice distant as his mind thought back on his recollection. Even his eyes seemed to look at a far off point, as if his vision pierced the material objects of the galaxy like they were nothing. But then those eyes fell upon Gunnr, and she became his entire sight. "I destroyed her so I could return to you, so that we would never be apart. I scattered those that would keep us separated to the wind, I destroyed their followers, I burnt their homes. Nothing remains but ash and those too desperate or foolish to realize that their end has come."

There would always be more, Mandalorians were nothing if not resilient little cockroaches. Even now as the Emperor sat alone with his beloved, his uncle strode among the worlds conquered by the Sith Empire and meted out justice.

The long-awaited justice for Ancius.

For Mircalla.

[member="Gunnr Zambrano"]​

 

[Gunnr Zambrano]

“Otherwise I would maim their children to naught.” Gunnr snapped off her growl with a wave of her hand and frantic turn of her head. To know he required vengeance and she was frail, clutched by death’s embrace and incapable of executing her station… the Epicanthix snarled.

“Then we shall toast such a victory.” Weakness of any kind was as despicable as the Light which took and took and took and took without giving. In the periphery, Gunnr winced. Her slender had pushed against her temple, the pressure of a memory indistinct and faded as the autumnal fog pressing back.

Gunnr toed out of bed while [member="Darth Carnifex"] seemed lightyears away, the joy of her dressing dance dashed for a calm and refreshed redressing. Smooth silk was tugged across her hips and cleavage. Jewels clung to her soft freckled skin.

“You seem so far away, love. I wish you’d tell me what struck you. How can I be your bride if I do not share half of all you carry?” Innocence in the dark was no simpleton’s fit of fancy. Emerald eyes wide with affection, Gunnr sat beside her husband and stroked her fingers along his cheek, running her thumb along a thin scar.

Someone’s elbow… a blow from armour… Gunnr winced again, sniffing in a breath and holding it in her chest. Washes of black and caustic images filtered through her reconstructing mind, until the waves on the nearby sea filled her ears with its’ delight.

The water… there was nothing to fear in the water.

“… you found me in the dark… pulled me from the waters. Those… heavy waters…” Not anymore. Not after drowning for what seemed like decades without relief or hope of rescue. Gunnr’s voice lilted away from him, brow furrowing as she sat on the side of their bed with the ocean breeze caressing her available skin. Lips full and pouted with honey pressed together.

Justice was done. Horrible, calculating and infallible justice, which neither forgets nor pacifies with half-measures. Sith Justice was a wicked and uncontained dragon hoarding skulls for its’ bower. It neither agreed to petitions of leniency, nor did it stop when all else was wasteland.

“We shall ride into battle against those who are left, then. End their pitiful trials to the echoes of death without resurrection… we will never be apart.” Gunnr clutched the cloth of her dress, feeling silken fabric through her fingers. “… never be apart…”

A being of visions and dire prophesy, Gunnr knew the jumble of her mind would clear, now. No longer would the confusion she sensed of her previous life bind her. Dipping to kiss Carnifex’s lips, Gunnr smiled with a beautiful relief and settled her head on his shoulder. She rocked in his arms, enjoying the relaxation of her new condition and their time recuperating before the affairs of the Empire would summon him again.

“Walk with me? Let me dote on you, love. The ceremony which resurrected me could not have been a simple affair.”

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"Uncle Braxus is working on a solution as we speak, my love. He will ensure that those who have wronged us will suffer."

Decimation.

The code-term for the shadow operation being conducted across the worlds that have fallen under the Empire's sway, a secretive culling of anyone and anything deemed dangerous to the Emperor and his family. The Zambrano's memories were long, their grudges even longer. Each slight, every injury, was keep fresh in their collective thoughts as they plotted their inevitable retribution, the names of the people and their clans inscribed on an obelisk of obsidian deep in the Zambrano's sanctum.

As the Emperor was reunited with his love, his Shadow Hand began the early stages of Decimation on Mandalore and neighboring star systems, forcefully evicting entire families from their homes, depriving them of their belongings, and sending them to die far away from prying eyes. Decimation was such a closely guarded secret, that members of the Dark Council were unclear as to its full extent or even its full purpose. All levels of the military were forced to comply with any order given by the Shadow Hand and his intermediaries, with refusal punishable by death.

There would come a day when the sharp depopulation would be noticed, but for now the Shadow Hand moved in obscurity and anonymity.

"All will be taken care of, trust me." Again the Emperor asked her to trust him, to place her faith in a being so malignantly cruel that to anyone else it would seem such a maddening proposition. But Gunnr knew better, she had first hand knowledge that the Emperor, for all of his cruelty and malice, kept his word and ensured his promises remained unbroken. He placed one hand over hers, gripping it softly before he rose from the bedside to stand.

"Let's walk in the gardens, sazil. It has been a long time since I have walked those paths."

[member="Gunnr Zambrano"]​

 

[Gunnr Zambrano]

Uncle Braxus… Gunnr shivered at thought of what [member="Darth Prazutis"] underwent. Where [member="Darth Carnifex"] was mighty and unfaltering in his pursuit of Sith power, Gunnr’s husband also brushed his fingers upon her cheek softly. He worshipped his brides, comforted her pains and celebrated the birth of the children. The joy in Kaine Zambrano was Gunnr’s alone, a singing anthem to the fight it took to come to a bed in a palace by the sea.

Her memories shifted to the frigid night of a hunting trip, by a vast glacial lake. Surrounded by foes, he cradled his beloved to his chest and warmed her. Pushed back the danger while Gunnr slept safe as any woman to which no harm would befall. He was the agony of the Force, the punishment of those who bragged at their own lauded humility.

A wicked, uncontainable man, whose hands crushed the skulls of the unworthy the way their sons played with clay.

Trust me.

Cerulean eyes sought mismatched emerald and red. Decimation. More than a word, it was the separate and simultaneous sides of Braxus and Kaine. Uncle, nephew, brothers in myriad lives. Where Braxus was the shadow, dealing death wholesale, Kaine returned to Panatha with the body of his love to return a forgiven life abundant. Gunnr reached into the tumult of her mind and saw a singular focus in the confusion.

Confusion seemed so, so far away.

“I will always trust you. You staid your hand, when my family fought you, held me close, when the Galaxy snarled to break us. You rescued me from the dead. You’re the father of my children, and the saviour of every piece of me that matters in this world and the next.” Gunnr whispered with her lips close to his as she stood from her repose and clutched her fingers in his. “Loving you was… is… terrifying and eternal. We’re home. Uncle Braxus will do what needs must, you’re right. He’s always been the best at solutions, and at giving us time to heal.”

The grin which spread across Gunnr’s face broke across every shadow in the room, a bright and ever trusting smile. The penalty for those decimated hung on the back of her shoulders like a cloak, yet to be a Zambrano Wife was to be steadfast in seeing Kaine and Braxus’ vision to the nth. Her joy came from Braxus working without Kaine’s presence.

It was a gift to a resurrected bride. Time with her beloved. She would spoil none with empathy to those who harmed her own.

“The gardens will be perfect. I wonder if the ilthe blooms have come, yet? I love that season.” Holding his hand in hers, Gunnr leaned against Kaine as they walked to the gardens. What would she smell first, the sea air, or the blooms? What would the first colour be pressing against her eyes? Would the sun be too bright?

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The gardens had been constructed thousands of years before the present day, a massive edifice of tiering levels lush with arboreal vegetation and statues depicting the likeness of many of Panatha's ancient and modern beasts. At its center was a fountain larger than most buildings, excess runoff from its constantly spewing font creating large waterfalls that was collected in pools further below before falling even further and depositing into the ocean. Other than a staff of experienced caretakers, only men and women of royal blood were allowed to step foot in the gardens.

Carnifex led his beloved out from beneath a marble archway, the sun shining down on them through jeweled crystals suspended by golden thread. The sounds of birds wafted through the oceanic breeze, the air smelling of salt. Beneath their feet was an oranet pathway of cobbled stone, each other brick made of a different material than the one beside it, creating a pattern that could only be truly appreciated from high above the gardens; originally meant for the gods themselves.

Spaced about the garden were marble benches, as ornate as the rest of the garden, with silken pillows routinely replaced by the caretakers. The Emperor led his bride to one of them, taking her in his arms and onto his lap as he sat down.

"It is beautiful, is it not?"

[member="Gunnr Zambrano"]​

 

[Gunnr Zambrano]

The walk to the gardens revealed the ache to her beloved, his body reknitting after the battle for Mandalore. She held closer to him, hoping with her relative size and stature to ease some of his physical burden, as she’d relieved his mental burden in the hours prior.

Before they reached the garden itself, spray from the fountain dappled her sandalled feet in diamond shards of clean, cool water.

“Ahhh, I can smell the sea…” Gunnr basked in the salt-scent of the ocean, which overpowered everything but the blossoms, which flourished in perpetuatem with thanks to the gardeners and most assuredly a form of magic. Making a mental note to ask, Gunnr sunk closer as her eyes widened in the sun.

The light burned little, neither harsh nor painful. Colours dashed in kaleidoscopic flickers across the garden, their clothing and faces. Gunnr gasped aloud, feet still as she took in the sight. The balmy glow. No memory betold her as to why the garden possessed her so, or why droplets of relieved tears poured down her supple cheeks.

“Id'r dui pard xioydehys duemb I'zi izil riim, Koemi.” All horrors accomplished, decimations and destruction conducted by others in their Empire in lieu of her recuperating husband, Gunnr faced true beauty. Ephemeral and heavenly to her cerulean eyes, the garden delighted beyond measure. She laughed at the sight of songbirds careening through the gold-threaded jewels, watched blossoms dip and drift in the breeze.

Her feet moved only to aide her husband, arms snug around his bone-cage. Even the cobbles delighted. Swathed in [member="Darth Carnifex"]’s arms, Gunnr tipped her cheek onto his shoulder and sighed with utter relief. No pain could reach them here, no tragic moments, or past sins. Nothing but the ocean waves, the flowers in their blooming, and the fountain’s waterfalls pouring into the glistening sea.

“It’s worth every agony to be here. Ah! Look at it, my love! Can there be a more beautiful place?”

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"The galaxy holds many wonders, but there is nothing more dear to my heart than the boroughs of my home." Panatha would always occupy a place of deep fondness in the Emperor, having be regaled of the beauty of his birthplace by his mother and father long after they had departed in shame. It remained as one of the last shreds of sentimentality that the Emperor would tolerate, most everything else had been destroyed in his quest for greater power and immortality. Yet, it remained, that and the affection he felt and displayed towards his family, especially those that shared the deepest recesses of his hearth; his wives. He doted on them more than his own children at times, for they had touched within him something that hearkened back to a time where love was once a possibility.

Now there was only anger, only hate, only fear, jealousy, and obsession.

The Dark Side ruled all.

"If the galaxy had to burn, I would hope that Panatha would somehow be spared the conflagration." He laughed, short and bitter, "But that is a childish thought, ស្រឡាញ់. All inevitable turns to dust, all except the Force. The Dark Side is eternal." The edges of his lips curled down in a frown, his eyes again growing distant as he contemplated something far beyond the complications of mere mortals, something far beyond the ethereal.

But then he looked back at Gunnr, and the faintest glimmer of a smile played upon his scarred visage. "But I did not bring you to these gardens to brood, I brought you here to revel in the material pleasures." He pulled her closer, strong arms that have killed thousands now cradling only one.

[member="Gunnr Zambrano"]​

 

[Gunnr Zambrano]

“I wonder how I was so lucky to be raised here, it’s almost unfathomable. Qocia’s temples and the jungles opening on the outskirts. Hunting long weeks with mother, to prove my worth as a daughter of Panatha, and House Fitz-Kierke.” Gunnr’s smile continued to shine as they stopped their passage through the garden. A place of tranquility, the garden filtered Gunnr’s experience of her husband.

The Dark was perpetual and unyielding. It stole his affections and the dotage of a man, who once fought for everything with a passionate desire to protect and grow. Yet, even with the terror of the Deep, Kaine Zambrano loved his wives. He held to his wives and children with a vehemence undeniably appealing and overwhelming in equal measures.

And when his anger and hatred overwhelmed the dotage of his family, Gunnr promised to be present and affectionate to their kin. When one part of him receded, she would not.

“The Dark Side is eternal, and us with it. Between all of us, your brides and you, and Uncle Braxus, we can rebuild anything which falls. We always will.” Her passion was too present, vehemence too pure a fuel. She thought to Ahani, the Starmother and fellow sister-wife. Could Ahani not take the detritus of destruction’s boon and recreate planets in their memory and name?

Kaine escaped again, seeking the visions of etherium as they cuddled on the stone bench. Gunnr slid her hand on his chin, draping soft fingers across mottled, scarred skin.

“Someday I’ll see what you do, when I look beyond the veil. It won’t frighten me, not now. Not after surviving so much to be here with you now. One eternal with the Lord of the Dark.” Her lips pressed against his, as he held her close. A massacre’s embrace welcomed by the wife he raised up once more. She clung harder to him, seeping in the moment of affection, which in the back of her mind she knew to be a rarity.

Each caress, each embrace was as precious as a star system under their control. Each press of his lips against hers worthy of a dozen battles won.

“No, we came to enjoy a life hard fought and best won. Look at the fountain, sazil! The caress of the breeze on the trees. I could live my entire life in this garden and be content.”

[member="Darth Carnifex"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

They spent many hours in the garden, the sun roaming across the sky as midday transitioned into early dusk. Sounds of the night animals, creatures from the sea, wafted across the cooling air as the Emperor and his bride lay content under the shade of the trees. The passage of time strengthened the Emperor, his internal injuries healing with every breath, his power returning with every beat of his black heart. He flexed his fingers tentatively, thoughts dwelling on battle and slaughter.

"But that too is a dream, ស្រឡាញ់." He caressed her cheek, drawing her in closer for another sensual embrace. "There is far more beyond this garden, and you must seize it with me. It is our destiny to control the entire galaxy, to guide it towards something greater than this miserable chaos."

He rose, redressing himself and offering his hand to Gunnr.

"It is time you come with me, to witness the wonders I have built again."

[member="Gunnr Zambrano"]​

 

[Gunnr Zambrano]

Reconnection.

Even monsters needed to recuperate after disastrous loss, the toll on their bodies corrected in their coiling spire. Desires to rush into the waters faded as Gunnr embraced the decrepit soul of the man, who fought past the Oneness of the Force itself to save her.

Return her to him, as was fitting for a bride beloved. Leg swept over his thigh, Gunnr nuzzled into his hand. Bones reconstructed even as they laid under the tree cover. Not long, Gunnr’s internal clock signalled Carnifex’s self-repair and what mandragora it brought with it. The animal on his back, steeped in his soul.

“A lovely one, for a fanciful moment.” Carnage and slaughter. Domination without restraint. The destined path of House Zambrano, to destroy and reform. To expedite the entropy of a fallen universe and with those raw materials, create something far more akin to their collective desires.

The galaxy would be beautiful, then. Unspoilt by degrading philosophies and the petulant mud of mediocre, fallen sapients.

“Time already? So soon?” [member="Darth Carnifex"]’s hand reached through the void. The garden was a safe bastion against the realities of their conditions. A blessing in which to hibernate for precious few moments more. “Entropy is woefully miserable, the chaos doubly so… still, Koe. I’d thought… Your welfare concerns me more.”

Gunnr slid her hand into her husband’s and felt the breeze upon her. Dressed in her resplendent dress and jewels, Gunnr ran her fingers through luscious, soft hair and let it fall down her back. She pressed against him, setting her head on his shoulder as she hugged around his barrel chest.

"You think I'm ready." Gunnr Zambrano gave her faith as a gift to her husband, a moment of loyalty and release well rewarded. Perpetual was her allegiance, eternal and succoured in the flow of passion between them. “We have wonders to seize, don’t we? What hath you wrought since I fell, my love?”