Two months had passed since Travien's arrival on Naboo and his employment by the Queen and they had become surprisingly close. It had been a busy two months for Travien; he had tracked down the Star Forge and after a brief field trip, confirmed its location. He had then shared that information with Padmé, who also visited the Forge. Travien had stuck true to his word and taught Padmé, Sabé and Eirtaé to use the Force. They had made incredible progress as well. This had caused a great deal of fuss when Padmé had introduced Travien to her council. Sio Bibble and Captain Panaka had been the most vocal,
(flashback)
Padmé, in full regalia addressed her council, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to introduce the man who has become my bodyguard. I introduce Lord Travien Shan."
Panaka stood stunned as Bibble spoke up first, "If I may ask your majesty. What is Lord Travien the Lord of?" he asked suspiciously.
Padmé smiled and happily answered the question, praying that her governor was not the student of history that her handmaiden, Eirtaé, had been, "Travien is the Lord of the Star Forge."
Sio Bibble sat down in shock as the others turned to him, "Governor, what is wrong?"
The elderly man looked at Travien, "Do you honour your parents, young man?" The rest of the council was confused by the odd question except Travien, who realised that Padmé's plan had failed, and recognised the Echani style question.
He nodded and smirked, "Yes, I do."
Bibble became hostile immediately, "So, what do you plan to do to us now, Sith Lord?! Will we be your first step in conquering the Republic?!" he snarled. The council gulped and backed away from the man. If Bibble was right then he was about to begin a shouting match with a psychopath, a Jedi psychopath.
Travien stalked forward, "I intend to do exactly the same now as I planned to do yesterday." He paused for a moment, letting them stew for a moment, "I intend to protect the Queen. If you are in the local vicinity I might protect you as well, but don't get your hopes up."
Padmé intervened, "Travien. Leave him be." She commanded.
The young Sith Lord nodded his head, "As you wish, milady." He backed down and resumed his place among the handmaidens, just behind the throne. The others were amazed at this display of obedience from what they believed to be a monster. Panaka glared at him,
"I still want to know how a blind man, even a blind Sith, can protect the Queen!"
Padmé was about to yell at him when she felt Travien shift behind her. She let him answer this one as well, "Firstly, I was born blind. In those circumstances you learn to adapt. And secondly, I use the Force and can see everything in this room, Panaka. Right down to your Hello Kitty boxers and the fluffy pink hearts on your vest, understand?"
Panaka glowered at Travien and stepped back, trying to hide his blush as he heard one of the Handmaidens giggling. Travien turned to the rest of the council, "I am a Sith Lord, make no mistake about that. Tell me though, who better to protect the Queen against the scum of the galaxy than the scum of the galaxy? I have sworn an oath; I don't need your agreement. If we can get along then you might find that I can be useful to have around."
One of the governors tremulously stepped forward, "How so?" she asked.
Travien sensed that he needed to calm these people down or Padmé would get nothing done. He shrugged, "Force Lightning is good at recharging speeders. The Forge gives me the ability to build ships for free, not that I won't charge mind you. I can also get cats out of trees." The group chuckled nervously at that, "I can't believe I'm saying this and am fully convinced that the Queen has corrupted me, but if you need something that doesn't conflict with my duties, then I'll be…amenable to helping."
There was a less nervous chuckle at the thought of the Queen corrupting a Sith Lord and Travien was not met with quite as much hostility, except for Panaka who did not like his Hello Kitty underwear being broadcast throughout the Palace.
(end flashback)
He was currently training Padmé, Sabé and Eirtaé in the Force. They were not wearing their usual regalia but tracksuits, although the handmaidens stuck to their traditional red, while Padmé wore white. He was watching them lift some fairly heavy objects, mostly large blocks of steel that he had procured for this very purpose and decided to jump in,
"Good. Lower them to the floor please." The three girls lowered the blocks to the floor and looked at him,
He grinned at them, "Right. I've taught you how to see with the Force, I've taught you how to channel it. There is one last thing I have to teach you before we can get to the truly interesting stuff."
They looked at him curiously; his grin was slightly off putting as he drew a blaster.
"This blaster has been set so that it might leave a blast mark on paper, but nothing more. One of the royal guards has been kind enough to teach me how to hit the broad side of a barn. Today you will be learning to dodge and predict your opponent's actions."
They looked at each other nervously as Travien raised the blaster rifle and let of a single shot at Padmé, who dodged it narrowly and glared at him,
"Hey, you didn't give me a chance to get ready!" she snapped,
"An assassin will not give you warning, you must always be ready!" he snarled as he fired again. This time he aimed at Sabé who dodged by throwing herself to the ground and rolled as he fired again, "Never lose the advantage of movement."
Eirtaé snapped back at him, "Aren't you supposed to protect the Queen?" Travien responded by firing at her and she was forced to bend backwards at the wait to prevent the shot from hitting her.
"My power is my own. For me to rely on any power other than mine is a weakness. Anything given can be taken." He replied, once again aiming for Padmé, who utilised her lessons in acrobatics and somersaulted over the incoming blaster bolt.
He fired again as Padmé landed and she rolled under the bolt and charged at him. He fired repeatedly as she closed but she dodged them all and tackled him. He fell to the ground with Padmé on top of him and laughed happily. The girls, including Padmé looked at him in confusion,
"That is what I wanted!" he exclaimed, "The best defence is a good offense! The best way to stop a blaster is to disable the wielder!" Wrapping an arm around Padmé he used to Force to lift them both upright.
He looked to Sabé and Eirtaé, "You are Handmaidens. It is your duty to protect Padmé against anyone or anything. It doesn't matter if it is Sith, Jedi or even Republic. Anyone is a threat until they prove themselves otherwise, understand?" The two women nodded, "Good, never be afraid to fight back, even against me." He turned to Padmé, "You are Queen. Yes, this is a democracy, I understand your traditions, but weakness spreads. Never be afraid to retaliate or fight for what you believe in. If your sovereignty is challenged, then so is the institution you serve and the people you protect understand?" All three girls were nodding as he spoke, looking quite downcast.
Travien sighed, "I am trying to keep your education as neutral as possible, okay? But you need to realise that eventually, everything comes down to who has the bigger stick. Civility can only be maintained through respect and the threat of reprisal."
Padmé looked sceptical, "Surely there is something to say of respect and friendship? I mean, diplomacy can't be all about guns!"
Travien nodded, "I'll grant you, respect and friendship do go a long way. The problem is that new rulers don't necessarily remember friendship." Travien shrugged, "Meh, maybe I'm wrong, you've already got a better track record than me so who knows, I just want you ready for any possibility."
Padmé nodded, "Let's start again." Travien grinned and raised the blaster.
Another two months had passed since that point. The three young women had again made tremendous progress. All three were wielding a lightsaber with incredible proficiency, especially as they had only been learning for three months, starting just after they mastered dodging. Padmé had in fact confronted him about this,
"How is it that we are learning this so fast? The Jedi say it takes years to reach this point!"
The other two nodded, and Travien smiled, "Yes, normally it does. My father was at your level after the same amount of training though. Admittedly he had been mind-wipe so the muscle memory was there, but it is still a precedent."
The handmaidens nodded but Padmé remained resolute, "No, there is something else to this, isn't there." She asked suspiciously.
Travien sighed, "Can you not just accept that you are doing really well at this?" Padmé shook her head, "Fine. I care about you, okay? How I've come to care about you this much in only four months I don't know, but I do. These two ladies are your only real defence if I'm not there so I've been using the Mind Arts to place the knowledge of your chosen lightsaber styles in your heads. You are in much the same situation as my father. You're essentially remembering something that you never knew you had forgotten."
Sabé looked angry, "You invaded our minds?!" she hissed,
Travien rounded on her, "Save your righteous indignation for someone who cares, Sabé. I did what I had to do to ensure Padmé's safety in any circumstances. Do not preach to me about rights and privacy, despite my less than aggressive tendencies I am a Sith Lord, I don't give a damn. If you're going to throw a hissy fit then do it in private and don't interfere with training. You're getting a memory download from a student of two of the most powerful Sith Lords and Jedi in history if your records are accurate. There are Jedi who would get pregnant so that they could give their firstborn child for the knowledge you are getting. Bitch about the method later."
Padmé stepped between Travien and an angry Sabé, "Travien, we are grateful for this, but I wish you could have told us before."
He sighed, "It was a confidence thing Padmé. You lot are roughly equal to a newly promoted Jedi Knight, you would have been more confident in your abilities if you thought it was just you, I didn't want you to get overconfident either. Maybe it was selfish, I never wanted you to be in a position to be afraid of me, and the faster you learn the less likely that is. Right now you are progressing faster than father or I ever did, do you want me to stop?"
Padmé looked at Travien and sighed. He looked so resigned to the fact that he again had done something wrong. She could appreciate his position though. He was doing something that he was never trained or taught to do; he was elevating someone from a position of weakness to a position of strength. As a Sith that was the very antithesis of his being.
She looked at the Handmaidens and back to Travien, "I don't personally object, but I think you should let Eirtaé and Sabé learn for themselves, okay?"
Travien nodded, "Alright, draw you sabres then. It's time to give you three a real challenge, and see how well you can work together."
The others looked confused, "How?" asked Eirtaé. Travien grinned at her and stepped away from the group. He unclipped his sabre from his customary armour, which now included a black cloak, and ignited the red blade.
"It's quite simple ladies. You will face me, and I will use any dirty tricks that I can. Although nothing scarring." He grinned and brought his sabre into a standard Ataru stance. The girls looked at him nervously but relaxed slightly as they noticed that his blade was on training settings,
"You know," commented Sabé, "It's much easier to imagine facing that red blade than it is to actually do it." The others nodded and attacked Travien together. As he deflected the blades he was more and more impressed. He doubted they realised it but they worked together in an impressive fashion, two would attack while one waited for an opening and as soon as one became tired the third would jump in. It was an impressive strategy given that they had no time to form one.
He grinned and jumped over Padmé's blade, knocking Sabé's aside as he landed. He hurled a Force push at the unfortunate Handmaiden that knocked her off of her feet and drew his lightsaber blade up diagonally in front of his face to block Padmé's blade coming down at him. He kicked out behind him, catching Eirtaé in the stomach as she attacked him from behind. He couldn't block because of the sabre lock Padmé was sustaining. He then did something that no-one expected. He and Padmé had grown close in the last four months but when he leaned his head through the blades none of them, including Travien, expected him to kiss her. Padmé was stunned by the action, as was Travien and they just stopped for a moment, holding the kiss.
This brought a new dynamic to the practice as both Sabé and Eirtaé attacked him from behind. They broke the sabre lock and Travien dodged to the side, deflecting Sabé's blade to his left, while to everyone's shock, Padmé deflected Eirtaé's blade to the right. Padmé and Travien began driving the other two back. They switched between targets regularly, confusing both Sabé and Eirtaé as they danced around one another in apparent harmony. Travien spotted something new as both girls targeted Padmé, having realised that they weren't getting past him. He jumped over all three of them and attacked Sabe from behind, forcing her back to back with Eirtaé. He held his sabre in a lock with Sabé who smirked when she remembered what happened the last time he was in that position and smiled coquettishly. Travien grinned at her and stepped back a pace, causing her to lose balance. He twirled his blade and pushed her lightsaber towards the ground as she lost her footing and held his blade to her throat once she regained her stability. The handmaidens looked at each other in shock,
"What the hell happened there?" asked Eirtaé. They turned to the other two and saw that they were simply staring at each other. She nudged Sabé, "Now might be a good time to leave." She nodded and they left the room quietly. This was the first time they had taken their lightsabers out of the training room. There would be a lot of questions soon as few had been told the nature of the Queen's new bodyguard.
Now that they were alone they hesitantly began to talk. Padmé looked at him, "Where does this leave us, Travien. Where does this take us?"
He barked a bitter laugh, "Where can it take us, Padmé? Sooner or later it will get out what I am. Then what happens to you? These people love you, almost as much as I do, I won't turn them against you like that!"
Padmé looked at him hard, "What if I don't care? I will do everything that I can to ensure that Naboo has everything it wants and needs, but what right do they have to my private life? What if you are a Sith Lord, by your own admission you haven't attacked the Republic. You've had plenty of opportunity to do so. You haven't even used the Forge to begin constructing a fleet!"
She walked up to him, "I am not going to be Queen forever. After I leave office, what then, what will we have if we turn away from this?"
He looked closely and so no dishonesty in her eyes, "Are you sure you want this. You know as well as I do that I have no intention of changing who I am. Can you accept me as a Sith?" Padmé nodded slowly and Travien leaned in and kissed her again. Once they broke the kiss they remained where they were, their arms wrapped around one another. Travien smiled,
"You know, your parents are going to flip." Padmé chuckled,
"So will Captain Panaka." They both laughed together.