Thanks for the reviews! :) Enjoy the chapter~ *waggles eyebrows* muahaha.

Maul did not leave that night.

Instead of parting after the ordeal, he stayed, obviously waiting for something. Satine had only been able to remain awake for a few more hours, her body aching, her face stinging and swollen. The last image before her maimed eyelids fluttered shut was the Sith, looking intensely back and forth between her and the doorway.

As her conscious mind faded blissfully into deep midnight she heard:

"Find him."

The door panels whisked open and shut with a glimmer of cold air and she fell over. She had not moved away from the wall, too petrified, agonized, and traumatized to even blink. Sinking slowly, she collapsed with a deep sigh, her wild hair covering her face.

Pain seemed permanently etched into her brow, but eased the more she drifted into dreams.

Maul watched her hungrily.

Tonight should have been the ultimate success. Yet the Jedi had not reacted as expected.

He had not taken the bait.

But Maul knew that he would never leave Satine either. He was certainly still in the palace.

The Sith supposed he should be more angry, but his ever calculating mind reveled in the new challenge, for the Jedi was not as beaten-down as originally believed. This would make for excellent sport.

Yes! The more he considered, the more he realized that it was one great game. Obi-wan would never stop trying to rescue his prized possession. Like a precious gem, her presence was intoxicating to him, his greed masked as petty love.

Maul's black-striped face cracked into a shattered grin, baring his teeth.

Opportunities abounded in pondering over how to catch the elusive Jedi; however, he had limited time. The next party of entrepreneurs was scheduled in a week. He would have to put Obi-wan back in his cage by then.

No one wants a Jedi on the loose, it would make for bad business.

Plus, this gave him even more time to synchronize himself to the Duchess. Parts of her feelings were still clouded. All of her defenses would have to be destroyed, for the Sith despised not being able to manipulate every facet of her being.

Just as she thought, there would be no place to hide, no safe corner of her mind and soul to flee to. Everywhere she went, she would bear his mark on her person, and everywhere her brain wandered, every crevice of her emotions, his presence would be there, waiting.

She would be his grandest accomplishment: complete manipulation. The Jedi played their tricks and his former Lords never had a taste for such things. They always preferred feats of physical power, but he would be the first to push the boundaries, to see how far he could inject himself into another living being, parasite.

Delicious, he realized that even if the Jedi managed to rescue the Duchess, she would never be the same. Like Kenobi, her pale blue eyes would dim into gray, the memories of this place and Maul forever branded on her skin and psyche.

A purring chuckle rumbled in his chest.

Completely unaware to the world, Satine slumbered on.

Then, she began to dream. Faint echoes trembled in the Force. Blurry images and muddied feelings illuminated from her mind. Curious, Maul pondered how far his power could extend. He had no previous knowledge of any Force-wielder that had successfully infiltrated someone's mind while they slept. The conscious was far easier to navigate.

Nevertheless, his arrogance goaded him to make an attempt.

Furling his legs, he closed his eyes and began the separation of body and soul. Like a possessing ghost, he took hold of her, making sure that she remained unaware. It would all go to rot if her mind suspected an unwelcome presence.

Drifting through brainwaves and their meager defenses, the swirling pictures began to take shape. He thought he saw a flash of light that almost resembled a lightsaber. Then again it could have been the moon. Flowers of all kinds began cropping up everywhere until he was completely engulfed in vegetation.

Suddenly, he was right there in the dream itself.

A pale silhouette, he saw her sitting by a small, glistening pool in the middle of a dense forest. The ground undulated like the sea, and sometimes the trees would switch places or disappear altogether, but Satine remained.

Getting closer, but still tentative to reveal himself, he then heard her start to sing. Enchanting, it was akin to birdsong, but it was no tune he recognized.

His pride doubled. He had done it! How did the Duchess rule so long in the first place? She had been positively pitiful against the sway of his power.

Now he was going to push his luck.

Snatching a nearby twig, one that couldn't seem to stay in one place, he snapped it loudly in half, eyes intent on her reaction. Immediately, the melody halted. Even he could sense the budding fear that built within the world she had created. Blooming roses and lilies began to wilt; their stalks began to take snake-like forms, thorns becoming fangs. The sky, which had been a pure magenta decayed into a foreboding gray, storm clouds appeared and crackled with splintered lightning.

It was all extremely fascinating, how little he had to do to corrupt a dream into a nightmare.

She had not turned around, but he could see her shoulders tense in anticipation, awaiting the chomp of a lurking beast.

He took it a step further.

Stepping away from the ever-darkening shadows, he crept loudly closer, his feet heavy and slow, yet poised. Like a stalking animal, he took his time approaching. With each step, the brightness lessened even more, until it was singularly concentrated on Satine, the last light in an encroaching fog.

Only a few feet from her, he could see her trembling, until at last she could bear it no longer and she whirled around to face her fear.

At that moment, he pounced, and the two of them tumbled to the ground. She had not been able to let out a scream, but he could see as clear as day the terror in her eyes, the realization that this wasn't a usual nightmare.

Before they could roll into the icy pool, the scene evaporated, and Maul was sent flying back to his body.

The first thing he heard was her gasp.

"Interesting," was what he murmured in response, opening his eyes gradually.

It was a bit of a shock being thrust back into the physical world, but was nothing that he couldn't handle.

An opposite reaction, she leapt away from him, standing on the other side of the room, the bed separating them. Her panicked breaths bordered on hyperventilation. He heaved a sigh at her hyperbole and stood to face her, pondering how long it would take for her to get a hold of herself.

"Don't come near me!" she cried, turned away from him, positively vibrating.

Ignoring her useless warning, he took a purposeful stride toward her.

Incensed, he had truly done it this time. There was only so much abuse she could take before she cracked, and this was the final straw. Was there nowhere to run? Nowhere free from his presence? Her thoughts and body were no longer hers. She had believed that there had been nothing else to take, she was exposed and exploited at all times.

Sleep was the last possible area of freedom, and most mornings she could barely remember her fading dreams, yet Maul still took them away from her. Breaking under the constant pressure, caught between the will to survive and the void of submission, she didn't know whether to keep fighting or to collapse under the weight of the Sith.

The previous weeks had favored the latter, but perhaps she could attempt one last try at preserving her dignity.

"Get away!" she snarled, a blind rage tainting her vision red.

Again, he flicked her comment away—another step. In response, she scrambled and backed herself into a corner.

An animal lashing out, her nostrils flared and she lifted her defiant head and glared at him with all the fury she could muster. The gashes on her cheeks only enhanced the ferocious glower.

One more fight.

"I swear by the gods I will kill you," she hissed as he advanced further.

Both were on the same side of the bed. The space in between them thinned. Although she knew there was nothing that could surprise him, she nevertheless began formulating plans, most of which centered on kneeing him in the stomach and running.

His face was oddly relaxed, for he knew that he needed to push no other buttons. He had hit his mark, her central nerve. Her fury had been suppressed for a month but had finally broke free. It couldn't have been better timing.

"Will you now?" he mused, crossing his foot over the other in a slow, sickly fashion.

He was less than a yard away.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, fists shaking at her sides. "You can torture me all you like, but you can't be in my head all the time! The second you let your guard down I'll—"

That was all the Sith could take. It had been amusing but, as always, the girl didn't know when to quit.

Lifting a bored hand, her voice was cut off as her throat enclosed on itself, crushed by the Force. Then, with a flick of the wrist, she was released. Collapsing like a petulant child, she fell against the mattress, clutching the covers.

"What am I going to do with you, Satine?" Maul asked, his voice feigning concern. "And to think that we had made all that progress. You had been so obedient." He sat with a mocking sigh on the bed. "Perhaps I've allowed you too much freedom. Truly, this is my fault."

She wanted to yell at the top of her lungs and bash his head in with a crowbar.

Freedom?! she screamed in her head, enraged.

"Yes freedom," he snapped. "You're alive aren't you? You're fed and clothed, you have a bed. And all that I ask in return is that you uphold your end of the bargain—a bargain that you offered, stupid girl."

He rose to his feet, and looked down at her, pitiless.

The stubborn anger that bristled began to soothe, transforming into the usual unease.

"I'm afraid I must enforce yet another rule," he proposed, glee and fury sparkling on his countenance.

Gauging by the look in his eye, it wouldn't be a pleasant one.

"Starting immediately," he announced, his deep voice penetrated the air. "You will no longer be allowed to be alone at any time ever again."

She spluttered, unable to find words. What exactly did that mean?

Trying to get to her feet, she slipped, for the feeling was lost in her legs.

"You can't…" she whispered.

He barely leaves my side as it is!

"Of course I can!" he snarled. "See, that's the problem—you still believe that your opinions matter," with this he heaved her to a wobbly stand, bruising her upper arm.

This will make the game far more difficult, Kenobi. How will you save her now? Maul gloated to invisible foe, letting his arrogance permeate in the Force, knowing that the Jedi was listening in.

He began dragging her toward the door and then whistled sharply. Instantly, a crony entered and stood at attention.

Maul did not pause as he ordered:

"Get her things. Bring them to my quarters."

If Maul had wanted her to see reality, she was seeing it in twenty-twenty now. The solider was picking her courtroom clothes off the floor. He was putting anything else he deemed a "thing" into a bag, stuffing it.

"No!" she yelped and tugged uselessly against him, digging her feet into the carpet. "Let go!"

He stopped, and she thought he had actually listened.

Unfortunately, he only paused so he could spin around and backhand her. It rocked her bones.

His rough, parched, bony slap broke open the scabbing gashes, and the pain doubled. She felt as blood pooled in her mouth, forcing her to spit. She rose her free palm to her cheek instinctively. With blurry vision, she still could not give in now, the alternative was almost unbearable. But her head was fogged after the hit, and her face was sore and swollen from the previous night. As he began towing her again, she stumbled along, dazed.

"B-but I—" she stuttered as she and him went out the panels, her tongue thick in her mouth.

"Let's play a game, Satine," he interrupted, his vice grip unbreakable. "If you speak again, I'll cut your tongue out."

Angered, but not idiotic enough to test him on that threat, she swallowed heavily. Her arm felt as if it was slowly being torn from the socket. Every part of her body ached, there wasn't a spot of untouched skin left, it was all bruised and broken.

As her brain tried to un-jumble itself, her only thought was:

Where will I sleep?

"Where do you think, fool?" he answered scathingly, his pace at breakneck speed now, her feet swept the ground.

The floor? she pondered, confused.

Surprisingly, he coughed a brittle chortle.

"If that were the case, I would save myself the trouble and put you in a cage. No, you'll be sleeping with me."

His comment flipped the lights back on her head and her heels dug into the ground.

This is not happening…I'm still in the nightmare. Wake up, Satine! she ordered herself, trying to clear the stars from her vision.

"Resist anymore and I'll chain you to the banister."

He took them quickly to the throne room and through the western side. The guard with the bag had caught up to them and was trailing from behind, though just beyond Maul's reach. He was a quick learner. If Maul's hold hadn't been so devastating, she would have collapsed several times now. As it was, she was barely holding on. It was like trying to clutch a wolf by the ears.

Not far now, her anxieties multiplied. Foremost on her mind was retaining a semblance of privacy.

She didn't even want to think about dressing in the morning. She looked down at her shabby, bloody shirt.

It's not so bad. I can wear this under my dress. Just need to cut off one sleeve and it's perfect, she bargained hopelessly.

"Don't be ridiculous," came his retort.

The door frames whisked open and then shut behind her. The closer they got, the more butterflies swarmed in her esophagus, trying to escape through her mouth. Saltwater conglomerated on her tongue.

"If you vomit on me, consider any and all privacy gone."

She swallowed her bile.

They passed the familiar portals, the silver-gray trims sparkled despite the dust. Then, everything became cleaner, or at least more opulent. She recognized the familiar area. This wing used to be filled with honored guests and respected ambassadors, peacemakers and compromisers.

Now it harbored the opposite.

Her own quarters were closest to the gardens, but she hardly expected Maul to sleep near something so pure and good.

Indeed, he swerved in the opposite direction, to the very end, the dead end, of the hallway—the last room on the right. It appeared normal enough, no shrunken or decapitated heads stood guard in front of it, but she was nonetheless expecting something worse coming from inside.

Maybe she was imagining things, but it was almost as if a dense fog was trying to escape from the slits.

Lifting his free hand, Maul waved it over the front, opening it with the Force. She looked for a sensor, but it had been ripped out, the wires hung broken and severed.

Now she understood. No one got in or out without using the Force. Which meant only three could gain access, two of which were Sith.

Great.

Entering, she still expected to see Sithian emblems and a closet full of black-hooded cloaks or Jedi lightsabers hanging morbidly as trophies. Instead, she got a completely unadorned room; a dark, midnight room that suppressed light. Concussed, the darkness worsened her stability, and she leaned heavily on Maul.

He flipped a switch with a flicker of his finger, but it was still incredibly dim. It appeared to be a large room, but nothing extravagant as far as she could tell. A rounded couch sat in the corner while the bed seemed to be through an entryway on the left.

Maul did not let go as he led her to the left, the soldier still following.

"Put it there," he barked over his shoulder to the guard.

Compliantly, he did so, dropping the light weight bag at the foot of the bed.

Some of her fears were lessened when she saw the size of the mattress. It was massive, so there didn't have to be any contact. Surely she could pretend that they weren't in the same bed, right?

When the Death Watch servant left, the Sith loosened his grip but still felt the need to haul her to an adjoining chamber, snatching her belongings as he went.

"Bathroom," he grunted, and then threw her and the bag in, shutting the gloomy door behind her. "Change. One minute."

Tripping over herself, she landed on all fours. Stars still glittered sporadically, her head felt like an ever-expanding balloon, but she could not waste time over self-pity.

Not to be told twice, she scavenged the sack, praying the guard had packed a clean shirt. Squinting, she realized he had, and she thanked the gods for it. Ripping off the old and tossing on the new, she had finished just in time. As soon as the cloth covered her body, the panels flew open.

Maul almost appeared disappointed that he hadn't been able to embarrass her in time. Even she was surprised at her speed, and she smirked gloatingly, stupidly. Growling, he motioned with his chin for her to follow. As she wobbled passed him, however, he snagged the back of her collar, and she lurched backward, almost falling onto her rear.

He made clucking sounds.

"On backwards."

Annoyed and tired she thought:

So?

"So," he responded devilishly. "Fix it."

With an exacerbated sigh, she began to make her drunken way to the bathroom, only to be pulled backward again.

"You already used up your minute."

The vertigo was bad, but his sick sense of humor was worse.

Well how else am I supposed to fix it? she thought lethargically.

All he gave her was a look.

Even in her discombobulated state, she saw the implication.

Hell. No! she seethed.

"If you don't do it, I will."

Swears upon swears filtered through her mind.

"Language, Duchess."

Go fuc— she began, too woozy to sensor herself.

Without warning, he yanked the shirt over her head.

Instinctively, she covered herself against the biting air, but kept her glare intact. Not having her hands to hold herself steady, she swayed uneasily. Slowly, Maul flipped the shirt and pulled the sleeves out, his stare just as intense. Then, he held it out to her.

Of course…

He smiled, clearly pleased with himself.

Making a decision, she relinquished her top hand and snatched the shirt as quick as she could, and retained her precarious stance. Maul gave a slight resistance, just enough to almost throw her completely off-balance again, but ultimately let go of it. She leaned against the wall, shoved the blasted thing on, and she crossed her arms self-consciously.

Happy?

"Very much so."

Turning her face away, she swore under her breath.

"I thought I told you not to speak," came the instant rebuke.

Her face screwed up as if she had swallowed a lemon, but she didn't want to incur another hit to the head.

Sorry.

"Good girl."

She curled her toes into the carpet and chewed on her molars. Her glare was beginning to break the scabs on her face, and she had to force herself to ease up.

"This way," he ordered.

This time, she waited for him to go first, lest he find another reason to humiliate her. He led them back to the front area with the couch, and then turned sharply to face her, she teetered to a stop.

"I will be here. Try anything and I'll snap your leg in two," he said severely, making her feel as if the previous encounter was just a drop in the ocean.

He nodded knowingly in response to her feelings and then turned away and went to sit on the circular cushion. He sat in the familiar meditating position, but his eyes remained open and watchful, fixed on her.

"Go to bed," he barked, his piercing yellow irises glimmering in the gloom. "Do not leave that room until I command it. Understood?"

She gave a tight nod.

"Good. Now leave."

Turning on a heel she sauntered away, shoulders hunched, arms still wrapped around her waist. She chomped on her cheek as she approached the foot of the bed frame and pondered what side to take, the thing was like a separate room altogether. Covered in black covers with black sheets and black framing, she rolled her eyes at the predictability.

Which side? she contemplated, her eyelids heavy.

"Right," came Maul's throaty voice through the wall.

Sighing, she still had trouble with the complete invasion of privacy that was being inflicted on a regular basis. If she had been sold into slavery, at least she would have had the sanctuary of her mind still.

His voice echoed in her head:

"Nowhere to hide."

She shivered, but couldn't bring herself to approach the bed. It was as if there was a force-field surrounding it and if she crossed it, she would be obliterated.

"Ten seconds, Satine, unless you want me to tuck you in."

The way he said it made the hair on the back of her neck stand. She decided she had endured enough punishment for one night, and climbed onto the monstrous thing without another objection. Plus, she was beginning to feel the wear and tear of the past few hours. Flicking the comforter out from under the untouched pillow, she wrapped herself in it, pulling it over her head.

Curled defensively, she squeezed her eyes shut, ignoring the resulting sting that sprung whenever she moved her face. Even though her mind buzzed with subtle panic, her body was exhausted. It eventually won the fight and she was out cold in the lion's den.