Lights from the stage blinded her as Solaria swept her arms from 5th position down to 4th position. Music rose in a glorious wave as her partner completed 3 tour jetés towards her and she rose onto relevé to meet him. A cello prompted and a quarter turn later, he lifted her aloft while she draped herself gracefully over his shoulders, extending her legs into a full split. He spun her stylishly down and once she landed, her partner lifted her hand to take a bow.

The ballet of Romeo and Juliet finished to wild applause. Roses and other rare exotic flowers were thrown onto the stage, blanketing the ground. Solaria grasped her partner's hand and took another bow. The cold face of the Empress stared stonily at her. Solaria swallowed her apprehension, wondering what she had in mind as they took a final bow.

After the ballet, Solaria was just getting ready to lose her Earthly Renaissance costume when a courier delivered a message from the Empress. Solaria sat down on the velvet poof to open the letter. In a terse terms, it summoned her to a private audience with her Majesty. Unluckily, the location was in a part of the palace that she had never heard of. Solaria had to ask for directions twice and wander around for quite some time. She was getting nervous, it was getting late and though she had no love for the woman, it was in her best interest to be polite.

Fortunately a guard found her walking aimlessly down the corridor and led her to the correct room. Relieved, she rushed in, ready with her apologies but the Empress was no where to be seen. Shrugging, Solaria sat down to wait a bit. Glancing about, she studied the plainly decorated suite. The walls were an inoffensive sage green with golden details painted on in a pattern. A rather thin ochre rug with circular motifs laid under 2 slightly worn chaises. There was only one large painting of a serene lake and 2 empty vases. It was incongruous for such an under decorated room to exist in somewhere as sumptuous as the Galactic Palace.

An hour passed and Solaria was peeved. She was tired and hungry after her long performance. All she wanted to do was shower and go to bed. Figuring that she was stood up, she went to leave. Going to the door, she found it was locked. Trying the buttons again, the light flashed red angrily. Stomping a dainty foot in pique, Solara slammed the palm of her hand onto the pad again.

"Damn her, of course she'll lock me in here. I didn't even get to change!" Reaching behind, Solaria loosened the laces of her corset to a more comfortable length and went to look for another exit. The suite was small but remembering Mustafar, she figured she would look for an exit.

Wandering her hands along the wall moving things randomly hoping for a switch. Once she moved a small vase, a door opened. "Aha!" she exclaimed with satisfaction. Walking down the dusty hallway she picked up her long skirts trying to avoid the dirt. An old musty odor rose with each step as she disturbed the long intact dust.

There was a light in a room that drew her attention. A scratchy voice was singing a indistinct lullaby. "Excuse me, hello? Could you tell me how to get out of this place?"

The singing stopped and the figure stood. "Oh good, thank you so much!" Solaria went inside the room. "Anakin?" The figure turned and rushed towards her. "Um I'm not Anakin," Solaria said awkwardly when the woman threw herself into a bone crushing embrace. She looked up and Solaria shivered uneasily. The woman's faded blue eyes looked…fractured. Like someone who had looked too long into the sun after being locked in a dark, dark room for a long time. Her skin was bone white and she looked ageless. She used to be quite beautiful, Solaria noted but now the woman was diminished. Her white skin was stretched taut over razor cheekbones, her wrists were bony, muscular long atrophied. Thin silvery scars were etched into her cheeks. Some were purple and fresh.

"You're not my Anakin! You took him away didn't you!" the woman shrieked. Frightened, Solaria pushed the woman away. "I don't know a Anakin, I didn't take anyone away! Stop!" she screamed as the woman flung herself at the ground beating the floor with her heels and rending her hair and face with long dirty yellow nails.

"Stop, you'll hurt yourself!" Solaria bent to grab the woman's hands. With an angry howl, the woman jumped on top of Solaria. She grabbed at Solaria's neck and in a flash of despair, Solaria remembered that she took off the com Vade had given her. Cursing herself, Solaria slammed the heel of her palm into the woman's nose. The woman whined and reeled back. Crawling away, Solaria stood and slammed the door close. She took off without a backwards look. She'll never take that necklace off ever again, she swore.

She ran until somehow she spilled out into a familiar hallway. "Lady Tarréga?" a clone asked with concern. "Take me to my quarters, please," she gasped. "Yes ma'am," he said and escorted her back to her rooms.

The first thing Solaria did once in her rooms was to dig through her jewelry box to locate the com. She found it and relieved, she slipped it over her head. "I hope they come back soon," she muttered to it.