Eliz let out a small sob as she lay on her bed, mourning her most recent loss in the dark. She knew she was late for the briefing on her next mission, but she suddenly didn't care about that anymore.
All she cared about, was that the life that had been growing inside her, for the last four months, was suddenly gone. Her son was dead and she was the only one who seemed to care at all.
She should have expected this, though. Sith only cared about furthering their own cause, and all the miscarriage meant, to them, was that the asset they had been waiting for, for quite some time, would not be coming for a little while more.
She could only imagine everyone's reactions when they found out she was actually mourning the loss of her baby. For that was simply not done when you were a Sith. If you had a child, you were thankful to the Force, but if a miscarriage happened, you were supposed to carry on as if nothing had happened.
How could anyone do that? Eliz wondered to herself. How could any mother just move on after losing their baby like that?
Eliz heard the door to her apartments open and slam shut, and quickly destroyed any evidence that she'd been crying. Crying was a sign of weakness, and she would not show any of that!
"Eliz?" she wasn't surprised at how angry her husband, Raymond, sounded. "You were expected in the Assignment Hall over three hours ago. What are you still doing here?"
"Getting ready to go for a short flight," Eliz answered, standing up and reaching for her black cloak. "I'm not in the mood for anything Sith related at the moment."
"That's never stopped you before," Eliz realized Raymond's mood was really nasty, at the moment, so she was careful to stay out of his reach as she fiddled with the silver clasp on her shoulder. "What's different this time?"
"I'm not listening to your fork tongued lies." Eliz barely felt the Force warning her before Raymond's hand had her tightly by the throat, and her back was pressed against his chest.
"They may be lies," Eliz felt his breath tickle her ear as her eyes started watering. "But, you have to admit, you've always loved hearing and obeying them," he released Eliz and she dropped to his feet, coughing, clutching her throat, and sucking much needed air into her lungs. "I'll give you twenty minutes, then you had better be down in the Assignment Hall ready for your mission!"
Raymond walked out of the room, leaving Eliz on the floor fighting back tears. She had no choice, but to obey him now if she didn't want a severe beating from him later.
She stood up from the floor, and straightened her appearance with shaky hands. She glanced in the mirror and winced when she noticed the angry, red hand mark practically covering her neck.
Anger rushed through her veins and the Dark Side started to flow easily around her. Her chest started heaving and her nails started digging into her palms.
Why should she take such abuse from him? her rebellious side asked. He has absolutely no right to keep doing this to me! You know what, Raymond? I'm done!
She pulled her silver wedding band off of her finger and tossed it carelessly behind her. She pulled on her gloves, to hide the absence of her ring, and then headed to the main hanger.
No one there would know about her not showing up for the briefing, and her ship would be ready and waiting, because she was due to leave at any moment. No one would even try to stop her until she was gone, so she had nothing to worry about for three hours, at least.
Raymond would wait twenty minutes for her, as he had said, but he wasn't going to go looking for her until tonight. When he did and found she wasn't in their apartment, then he would fly into a rage and start searching the temple for her. By then, she'd, hopefully, be long gone.
"Everything is ready, Milady." Eliz waved the technician off and boarded her ship. The engine was already running and she had the clear to leave. It was almost too easy.
She took off and waited for an hour before changing course, and landing on a very insignificant planet that was very out of the way. She wiped the ships memory bank, and then sold it for a very handsome sum.
She changed her look, boarded a transport to a very random place, and integrated herself into the galaxy as Elizabeth Bethan just in time to watch the Republic fall, and, in it's place, the Empire rise.