POV: Ahsoka Skywalker
I groaned as I opened my eyes to see a bright light. I glanced around, seeing an unfamiliar setting. "Anakin?" I called out.
"Ahsoka?" That wasn't my husband. I turned to see an elderly Togruta. "My daughter, is this you?"
I pushed myself off of the cold, marble floor to see the elder wearing a long, elaborate robe. There was a golden crown with several diamonds and jewels embedded into it on his head. I reached down to my waist to see my lightsaber missing. "What do you want?"
"Ahsoka?"
"Where is my husband?"
He laughed. "I'm so glad to see that you are eager to meet your husband. Jermani! Bring Kaeyn out. Your original suitor must have perished since he did not return. Luckily, I have chosen many suitors."
"No! Where is my husband! I'm married!" I screamed.
"Excuse me?"
I clutched my head in my hands, not being able to sense Anakin. "Ani?" I whispered into the bond. After a few moments, there was still nothing. A hand rested on my shoulder and I looked up to see the man closer to me. He did look like me. I slapped his hand away. "Was anyone else brought here with me?"
"Just a few pesky humans, my dear. They will be dealt with properly."
"Dealt with?"
"Of course. The older ones will be used in our arenas to fight our soldiers as training. The younger ones will be used for much more, useful reasons."
"Where are they?"
"That is not your concern."
I growled, my fury becoming much more dominant. "I want to see them right now!"
"Ahsoka, I know you are strong with the Force, as are they. Your Force abilities will do nothing for you here. The prisoners will, as I have said, be dealt with. They are no longer your concern." He turned away from me. "Ah, Kaeyn! It's good to see you. This is my daughter, Ahsoka Tano."
"I'm Ahsoka Skywalker," I sneered at them.
"Nonsense."
Kaeyn moved forward, bowing. He took my hand, kissing it lightly. "Hello, my darling. You and I will live a wonderful life together."
I pulled my hand back, glaring up at him. "She requires some time to get used to you, Kaeyn. Do not be offended. Ahsoka, my daughter, please go with Alesk to your room. She will prepare you for tonight's banquet."
I rolled my eyes, turning around to see the woman that used to take care of me as a child. She was the one who discovered my Force-sensitivity. She reached her hands out for me, motioning to follow. I walked past Kaeyn and my father, walking out of the room with her. "Princess, oh, how I have missed you…" she whispered when we were alone.
I hugged her tightly. "I've missed you, too, Ali."
I pulled back to see tears in her eyes. "I'd hoped you might come back to us someday, but I wish the circumstances were different."
"As do I," I whispered. "Ali, where have the men who came with me been taken?"
She frowned, shaking her head. "I don't know, my dear. I do know, however, that one of the prisoners is your mate. He's human then?"
I smiled weakly. "Yes, he's human. He's not as bad as you think –"
"If you two have married, then I know he's not as bad as I believe. I know the customs here and on Coruscant are different. The man actually proposes to the woman. If he proposed to you, then he truly loves you."
"That's one thing I love about living with humans," I sighed. "Proposal means commitment to them. Here, fathers thrust men upon their daughters, hoping that everything works out in the end."
We began walking down the long hallways until we reached my bedroom. "Ahsoka, you seem happy."
"Well, not because of my father."
"I know it's because of your husband. I'm glad to see you so happy. I thought that you might be able to escape being forced into a marriage. Had you been here when you were sixteen, you might have been married off, but your father couldn't get a hold of the temple."
"I was pregnant."
"Excuse me?"
"He got me pregnant when I was sixteen and I had my daughter on my seventeenth birthday."
"A daughter?" she smiled. "What did you two name her?"
"Kaimi."
"That's a beautiful name."
"We also have a son, Cayden. He was born several months ago. We're taking care of his daughter from a previous relationship as well."
She raised her eye markings. "Quite the family you've made already, my dear."
"I love it," I sighed.
She started removing the pieces of armor that Anakin had put on me. "Why is all of this on you?"
"He doesn't want anything to happen to me, plus he actually made this for me."
She paused in removing the shoulder pads. "He made this set of armor?"
"He sure did."
"Quite the man you've gotten yourself. Kaeyn would never do such a thing for you. He's been here for some time and I've grown tired of him already."
"I don't think anyone my father chooses for me will be a good husband. They don't know me and I don't know them. All they want from marrying me is sex and power. My husband isn't like that…"
"I'd love to meet this man. You'll have to point him out to me if we see him."
"Why would we see him? Isn't he being held captive?"
"Oh, right," she shook her head. "You haven't been here for years, my darling. The lucky prisoners serve dinner during the banquet. The unlucky ones, however, are used for entertainment to please your father."
I stared at her in horror. "I really hope he's one of the lucky ones then…"
"If we get you prepared quickly, the banquet will begin and we'll see if he is or not."
I quickly began to take the armor off, placing them neatly in a pile on a chair while Alesk went to get something for me to change into. She brought an elegant looking, blue dress into the room, placing it on a chair next to the door. I quickly threw it onto myself. "Ali, I have the dress on."
She entered once again, coming in to fix the dress as best as she could. She made me look like a princess. She lifted my hand to see my wedding ring, smiling at it. "All right, my dear." She led me out of my bedroom and down to the dining hall.
We entered to see roughly twenty Togrutas sitting around a large table. "Princess," many of them began whispering.
I glanced around nervously, quickly searching for Anakin. Alesk led me to my seat beside my father. Kaeyn was sitting on the opposite side of him, facing me. I couldn't look at either of them. "Bring out the dinner and let us begin our feast!"
Several large doors opened behind him and I couldn't help but look. Several Jedi walked out, surrounded by guards, carrying dishes for us to eat from. Each dish contained a different food. I saw Obi-Wan. He glanced at me sadly while walking closer to me. He placed a dish in front of me. "He's in trouble."
"Nothing new for him," I whispered.
"No. I mean real trouble. Like when Palpatine had him."
I stared up at him in horror as he slowly began to pull back. "Obi-Wan, we need a plan right now."
"I'm trying to form one as we speak, but the guards make it difficult. I'll give you a signal when I figure something out."
He pulled away, taking another dish down the table. I watched him as I tried to think quickly. I glanced around the room, seeing no windows. Guards blocked every entrance and my father said that my Force abilities would be useless. Obi-Wan stood behind my chair with his guard. I glanced at my father as he began to speak. "Friends and family," he greeted. "We are gathered here tonight to celebrate the return of our beloved princess. She and the Maek son will unite our kingdom once again." Everyone smiled and cheered around the table while I shrunk into my seat. I glanced back at Obi-Wan for a moment to see him raise an eyebrow. "Now eat well, my friends!"
Everyone around me began to eat savagely while I sat there. I turned around to face Obi-Wan, the guard now gone. "We need to make this plan soon. I can't go through with marrying that guy."
"I don't think Anakin would appreciate it if you did. I'm waiting for him to get out here. I have an idea."
"You do know that the Force won't work here, right?"
He frowned. "That I did not know…"
"It won't. So whatever you had planned, it won't work. We actually have to fight our way out of here without relying on the Force."
He sighed, going back to his deep thought process. Halfway through everyone's meal, my father clapped his hands together. "And now, the entertainment." The smile on his face deeply disturbed me. "Bring out the show!"
The large doors opened once again and Anakin was forced out into the room, falling to his knees. An electrostaff was jabbed into his bare back and he cried out in agony. I cringed, trying not to show my father that this was my husband. If he found out, he might have him killed.
There were Force bonds on his wrists and a metallic collar around his neck. I glanced back at Obi-Wan quickly, seeing his horrific stare towards Anakin. I could tell that he was trying to restrain himself as well, knowing that anything we did would result in severe consequences for Anakin. "Get up," a guard grunted. Several of the people around me began to laugh as he breathed heavily on the floor.
He pushed himself up as best as he could, almost falling back down again. His eyes met mine and I could see the frenzied look in them. He wanted to desperately get out of here and I could just see him having flashbacks of the untold tales of Palpatine's torture.
He reached his hands out towards my father, trying with all his might to Force-choke him. The collar around his neck shocked him until he fell to his knees once again, screaming in agony. I could barely control the tears that wanted to fall by watching him. I was furious with the amount of laughing going on around me.
I put my face in my hand, trying to force him to stop screaming. My heart was breaking as I heard it. It finally stopped, I assumed, when he stopped trying to kill my father. I looked up from my palm to see him breathing heavily again. The guard pulled out a whip and slashed at his back. His head rose, displaying pure agony. I looked behind me at Obi-Wan, his face showing almost the same expression of sadness as mine. "We need to do something, now."
He glanced across the room to meet the eyes of another Jedi and nodded. I glanced around slowly seeing several nods from the Jedi across the room. Without warning, each man jumped at their guards and hopefully someone sitting at the table.
Obi-Wan grabbed me, pulling a knife from the table. He slammed me against his chest as my father spun around. "Release her!"
Anakin looked up, yet another look of frenzy in his eyes. "Release us and we'll let her go." He waved his hands and all the guards moved away from the Jedi. Obi-Wan sidestepped with me, taking me towards Anakin. I saw Kaeyn wishing he could kill Obi-Wan and I hoped that he wouldn't have that chance. "Pick him up," Obi-Wan said in his commanding tone. I knelt down and pulled Anakin into my arms.
"Soka…" he whispered so only I could hear him.
"It's okay, Ani, it's okay."
I pulled him up into a standing position beside me. I glanced at Alesk, now standing in a corner, to see her knowing look. She nodded, smiling at me. "Where is your medical station?" Obi-Wan asked, holding the knife towards me.
Anakin wrapped his arm around my shoulder, using me for support. I didn't mind. He wasn't all that heavy, luckily. "We have one in the east wing. Alesk, take them there. Make sure they don't harm my daughter."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Alesk came towards us, leading us out of the dining hall. Obi-Wan walked behind me as I carried Anakin. Once we were out of the hall, Obi-Wan dropped the knife and wrapped Anakin's other arm around his shoulder. The hand on Anakin's back was soaking with blood and I stared up at his face, seeing his exhausted look along with traces of his pain.
We brought him into the medical area, helping him sit on the bed. Alesk ran around, finding bandages. Once she did, she began to cover up the marks on Ani's back. He held my hand tightly, smiling weakly at me, wincing when Alesk would put too much pressure on his back. "You're going to be okay, Ani. I promise."
"I know," he whispered.
