Anais and Darth Maul

by kriskris8069

The young slave Anais survives a massacre and becomes the personal slave of the Sith Darth Maul: he will take care of her, but she will have to respect some rules if she does not want to be punished. However Anais is not only a slave, but she hides something mysterious inside her, which dates back to when she was very small.

18. General Seth's plan - part 2

Many thank all the people who have sent me their messages or who patiently read my stories. Please forgive my terrible english, I hope the stories are understandable. Forgive also the times with I can write the stories, I don't have always a lot of time available and being able to interpret the emotions of a Sith -given its nature- it is not so immediate ;-)

Anais returned to Coruscant.

For all the way back, she didn't say a word. Her gaze was lost in the void. She was thinking to General Seth's words ... how could she ... how could she have missed an opportunity like this? It could be her only escape, her only salvation to forget forever the obscure figure of her master, abandon the life in that apartment, life of fears, punishments and that perverse relationship with a Sith who, although he had been the only one to be able to evoke unique and strong emotions in her, he was still a murderer, a creature devoid of pity, forged in hatred and violence.

She felt crying.

She bit her lower lip trying to wipe the tears away.

Darth Maul was feeling her emotions: emotions of pain, sadness and even despair ... he had never felt them in Anais all together ... even when he had punished her, in that case her emotions were always a mixture of fear and excitement, between pleasure and pain.

Now his little slave was suffering.

Why?

Once again, he cursed the fact that he could not read her mind and full of anger and rage, he also cursed General Seth who surely said something to her. Surely the cause of all this pain was his fault ... it was better if Anais stayed on Coruscant!

He had to concentrate to regain his calm.

He wanted to go to her and ask her what happened, what General Seth told her, but he knew it would scare her even more. Anais was not a person who talked a lot and in this emotional state, she would been less inclined to tell him anything.

Therefore, he respected her silence and did not ask her anything.

Back at her home, Anais resumed doing what she did every day, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner when her master was present.

Anais was kind, she smiled at him, but Darth Maul, knew that there was something inside her that made her suffer and he could not get it out of his mind.

This thought unnerved him, he clearly knew that his little slave suffered, for something he could not understand, but he was sure that something tormented her. Nobody should have allowed to touch her, but not even to make her suffer!

Only he could.

But in his heart, he wouldn't want to. Anais was so frail, so delicate and defenseless ... why should he make her suffer? When he had punished her, he had done everything to hit her in the least painful points of her back and in any case, he made the pain mingle with physical pleasure and he perceived these emotions in the girl, even though, she done everything to hide them in the farthest part of her mind.

Anais was a good girl, precise, intelligent, she respected the rules that had been imposed on her, she never complained ... and with him, she was honest, kind and she always did everything to smile at him! She managed to accept him for what he was, although there were always so many difficulties to overcome. For example, she was afraid of him: initially this thing gave him pleasure, but now, something changed. Now he was starting to feel a little regret because he knew that Anais would never be comfortable in his presence, she would always be scared about something and probably, whatever feelings she felt towards him, would be a consequence of her fear. Instead, he would liked that Anais was serene, that she felt pleasure in having him near, because he would always protect her.

Always.

Anais noticed that something changed in her master's attitude, she noticed it from the light of his eyes, from the way he looked at her. Obviously it was quite difficult to say this because, as the girl always noticed, the tattoos on her master's face made his facial expression almost always angry, evil and merciless. It was enough that he was upset about something that, those drawings, amplified the effect of his feelings, making it terrible, but at the same time, extremely fascinating.

Anais thought she had problems: no girl of her young age, could considered a creature like Lord Maul fascinating and interesting. If we excluded those who were only looking for power and that would found he fascinating even if he was not, a girl like her would find interesting a boy like Sha'an or at least, General Seth.

Instead Anais felt attracted to him, perhaps for that sense of protection that only he could make her feel, perhaps for the scent and warmth of his body, perhaps for his perfect, wonderful body. How many times Anais pushed from her mind the desire to kiss him, to join him physically, even though, she knew she shouldn't done it, even though she knew it was ... wrong!

Never of this thing happened to her with one of her previous masters, never!

And Lord Maul, who must been the last kind of master to which felt this kind of attraction, this kind of feeling because a Sith, he was the only master to whom, her slave relationship, was not managed to stay that way, but went further.

Although Zelda had warned her several times about Lord Maul's violent and perverse nature ... she couldn't get out of her mind some moments spent with him, in which everything Twi'lek had told her was proven wrong: apart from the last of these moments, the one in which she still felt the presence of his head gently resting on her breast, the girl also thought back to that time when she held his lightsaber in her hands, when she touched his chest to feel his two hearts, when on the evening, before leaving his room, Lord Maul held her in his arms, bringing her face and lips to his, as if he wanted to kiss her.

In these moments Anais felt ... desired ... and it was precisely these moments that made her choose Lord Maul rather than General Seth, although he represented the most logical choice that a girl like her, in her condition, would have had to do.

But no.

Instead, she preferred staying next to a Sith, to a murderer, a killer who had been able to make her feel like something that belonged to him ... ONLY to him.

It often happened that, when Anais served breakfast, lunch or dinner in her master's room, she had to join him in the training room, or in his laboratory, where she found him repairing the black probes that he occasionally destroyed during his training.

Once, Lord Maul handed Anais a pair of screwdrivers and told her to go over to one of those metal tables and fix the prototype on it. The girl seemed very happy to do this. He set out to do it more often with her.

And so he did.

Anais spent whole afternoons with her master in that immense workshop / laboratory assembling pieces, screwing screws, connecting wires ... a job not typically of a slave but that made her happy because in those moments, she realized that she was not considered by Lord Maul, as a weak and unhappy slave, only capable of carrying clean clothes and hot food. In those moments, she felt strong, she felt sure of herself.

Her master didn't talk much, so Anais didn't have great conversations when she was with him. They often looked at each other, that is. He was constantly glancing at her, to see what she was doing, if she was in trouble. And when he looked at her, while she was focused on those vines, on those thin threads, he thought inside himself about how beautiful she was, how ... glad he was of her presence, how Anais made him feel strong and important, much more than how strong and powerful killing someone could make him.

At first Anais returned his gaze with the fear that he was going to scold her for something. Then, over time, she realized that he didn't want to scold anyone. That was just his gaze! Maybe she was getting too much trouble.

Once Lord Maul approached the girl to check what she was doing: Anais was soldering two wires to a small socket. Behind her, she sensed the presence of her master and she felt embarrassed and worried. So, she stopped what she was doing, she stopped, as if frozen in time and space! He lowered himself on her, coming to brush her body from behind. Anais felt his chest and shoulders pass over her back, felt the warmth of his body and his wild scent. She closed her eyes for a moment, as she felt her body desire that of her master and let him draw near to her, making her feel all his power and his virility. Then, Lord Maul brought his right hand over hers, squeezed it gently and finished soldering those two thin wires over that socket, with Anais.

The girl turned to him, to look him in the eye that was still surrounded by his arm. He looked at her, too. Anais saw, through those tattoos, the face of the man who was under that red and black mask, the face of a man in the height of his physical maturity, strong, powerful, ready to possess her physically, maling her intense and deep emotions, ready to protect her because she was his and nobody else's.

Slowly, Lord Maul's face moved away from Anais's, regaining normal distances:

-Great job, Anais! - he said, while she accepted this unexpected compliment, returning with her mind to reality

Anais started reading a new book.

Lord Maul chosen it from his personal library by taking it down, from the high shelf it was on, with the use of the force. It was a very old, yellowed book. It was written in the ancient Sith language, in ur-Kittât.

He asked Anais if she knew it... he wished the girl would say no, otherwise, if Anais had any knowledge about it, he would have to start to worry. Instead, luckily, she honestly replied that she had never seen that type of writing before.

Lord Maul sat on the edge of the bed and motioned for her to come beside him. Anais was very embarrassed. Although now she had a little more confidence with him, he was always his master and a Sith and she was a slave, and a slave was not worthy to sit on her master's bed, unless he asked her, as in this case , or at least of the slave was being used for his own personal pleasure. Dressed only in his trousers and his boots, his torso naked, the faint light that penetrated from the large window of his bedroom reflected on the red muscles of his shoulders, arms and chest. Then it went down on his sculpted abs, creating plays of light and shadow, up to the black belt that surrounded his waist and from which his lightsaber hung. Anais's breath and senses began to falter, as always, in these cases, in which she remained in contemplation of the physical appearance of her master, while her mind was distracted by the usual thoughts of desire that the girl always sought, and desperately keep hidden. Therefore, a little hesitant, she came close to him, but stopped without sitting on his bed: he looked up, wondering what she was waiting for get next to him. Sensing her embarrassment, he stretched his hand towards her: Anais touched it, letting him close his fingers around hers, squeezing them gently. Pulling the girl to his very gently, Anais finally sat down next to him.

Her long blond hair, behind her back, rested on the bed.

They were side by side, in the dim light of his room, lit only by the large window and by the lights of the vehicles of the incessant Coruscant traffic.

Lord Maul opened the book and showed her some symbols, explained what they were, their meaning and how they were read.

Anais listened enchantedly to the sound of his voice, so warm and deep and on those occasions, so calm, a sound that penetrated right into her chest, making her shiver behind her back. The girl listened, fascinated and attentively, what her master patiently explained her and thought about how well educated he was. Although he was a killer, Lord Maul not only had knowledge in the use of the sword and various fighting techniques, but he also had other types of knowledge, most likely, Anais thought, which concerned the control of his mind, of his emotions. Lord Maul was a Sith, not an ordinary bounty hunter or an ordinary assassin and as such, his training was not only physical, but complete and absolute and covered all aspects of the his body and his strength, in this case terribly dark and powerful.

Anais learned fast, she liked learning.

Darth Maul thought that if she had been younger, she would been able to quickly learn the use of the sword, he could trained her to make her strong and skilled. But Anais was now too old to learn how to become a warrior and it wasn't necessary. He would be there to defend and protect her ... this was what he thought, while Anais read her first words in ur-Kittât. Darth Maul watched her while she, with her small index finger, scrolled over the pages of the book, focused and committed to what she was doing.

Anais did not notice the look he gave her on these occasions, the attention with which he looked at her. Darth Maul brought his eyes to her lips, which moved softly whispering that ancient tongue almost more to herself than to him.

He wanted to kiss her.

But he never did.

About ten days passed since the last meeting on Dariba.

General Seth given specific instructions to Cad Bane.

Now, all that remained was to wait.

The bounty hunter, however, refused to follow General Seth's proposed plan, not because he was afraid, but because when he came to dealing with the Sith, he preferred to stay away from them. He also conducted shady trades often in agreement and on commission from the Separatists and since he knew that the Sith often moved alongside them, he did not want to compromise his position, so he preferred to stay out of it and move in the shadows. For this reason he hired the criminal Shahan Alama. Exiled by pirates, the man had started a career as a bounty hunter.

Cad Bane thought that Shahan Alama would be perfect for this job, as he was cold, ruthless and sadistic ... and would therefore surely satisfy General Seth's needs, doing a quick and clean job.

Shahan Alama began to carry out the assignment that had been entrusted to him, first of all, studying the lifestyle habits of his new victim.

He had to move carefully and precisely because Cad Bane explained to him that the girl was the personal slave of a Sith, so as such, it would be very difficult to get close to her without risking his wrath. For this reason, Shahan should have acted when the young slave was alone, without her master at the ribs, otherwise he would risked his head and also, to reveal all the people above him, up to General Seth. In fact, the Sith would never be satisfied only with his head and would go on, killing one by one all those who planned this operation with him.

But being able to catch the Sith slave on her own, was not an easy task because she spent most of her time in the apartment of that huge Coruscant skyscraper, in one of the uptown, perhaps the richest and most elegant, where a shady figure like that of Shahan Alama would have been immediately identified respect to the people accustomed to passing through those areas.

So, at the moment, it was impossible to get close her although, sometimes, the bounty hunter had seen her venture out on her own, to make small purchases, outside the apartment where she lived, that was really advantageous for him since the Sith not accompanied the girl, but too risky because the young woman always passed through extremely busy streets and in broad daylight.

No, Shahan Alama couldn't risk it.

He had to wait, wait for a better time that he knew, would come, it was enough just to be patient.

Anais spent her days quite serenely.

She was increasingly convinced that something changed in her master's character ... she couldn't explain why, but she felt it. He addressed her with delicacy and with different attentions. Or perhaps, something changed in her, thus allowing her to see her master in another light, making him look different when in reality he was not at all.

Instead, although Anais continued to remain undecided on this aspect, or rather ... torn, Darth Maul had really begun to perceive something different for his slave than before. The physical desire to possess her was always there and was always very strong in him, but there was also more. Now he felt an interest ... let's say, a pleasure in being with her, in talking to her, in seeing her, even if only for a few minutes, such as when she came in and out of his room to deliver him his clean clothes or serve him breakfast, lunch or dinner. He was pleased when Anais entered the room where he trained, when he saw her sitting on those stands, while, with a look full of admiration towards him, she remained there, observing him, patiently waiting for him to finish his training, simply to warn him that she served him breakfast in his room.

Darth Maul felt delighted to sit on his bed next to his little slave as she slowly read the writing Sith ur-Kittât. He liked to watch her while she was concentrated, intent on reading without making mistakes. But he also liked to correct her because he could look her in the eyes and contemplate that beautiful light blue color, at the same time observe her little pink mouth which he so longed to kiss, but from which desire he refrained from, thinking whenever the time had not yet come.

Anais was his.

She had always been, from the very beginning when he first met her on Gerik IV and spared her life. Initially just to prove to himself that he had the power to do it, because he was a Sith. Then the feeling of possession took over, Anais was his thing that no one had to touch. Now the desire to be with her, to feel her close, to know that she was there for him, to perceive her perfume and to remind her that he would always protect and defend her. Obviously, he would never tell her, but he let her know when he pulled her gently to him, looking into her eyes, moving a lock of hair behind her ear, gently brushing her cheek with his hand before wishing her good night and letting her come out of his room.

Anais perceived all, although a remote part of her mind did everything to keep her as much as possible with her feet on the ground, trying every day to remind her who he really was.

But, although Zelda did it too, on a daily basis, Anais began to feel for her master something beyond the respect and devotion of a slave. The memory of the punishment she suffered, was always strong and alive inside her and in fact she continued to be afraid of her master. But every time, when she thought of that punishment, in addition to the pain and fear, she felt within herself ... that absurd pleasure felt when Lord Maul had tied her to those handcuffs and then, completely naked, touched her with his strong hands.

Anais was embarrassed to feel these emotions. She wondered how it was possible to feel that physical arousal in a terrible moment like this. But she was sure it was her master's presence that made her feel those emotions. His strength, his power, both physical and mental, had combined with her pain and fear, making her feel something she had never felt before.

Perhaps, it was all this set of things that in the end, had made her choose to stay by her master's side rather than face that adventure with General Seth.

Anais was aware that this relationship with Lord Maul was risky. She had no idea how it would turn out, but she realized that, sooner or later, by continuing like this, her body would soon merge with that of her master.

However Anais could not understand what kind of emotional involvement a creature like him, made only of hatred and violence.

Possession?

Physical attraction?

Sure, but only this? Any other kind of feeling? Anais didn't believe it, she didn't want to believe it. If she thought back to the moments spent with him ... she couldn't believe that there was no space in his two hearts for some other kind of emotion.

Thinking back to General Seth, as time went on, Anais became more and more convinced that she made the right choice. It was true, she had lost an opportunity to save herself, to improve her life, to change it forever, but in her heart, Anais knew she didn't want to change her life. She felt protected next to him, she could not say that she felt happy because unfortunately she was still so afraid, but she could not remove from her mind the attention that Lord Maul dedicated to her every day. Anais was aware that he was a murderer, that he felt no pity for anything or anyone and that it was a truly unique case that he had spared her life, otherwise she would been one of the many corpses in Gerik IV's room. But although he was that, although he was a Sith ... when Anais closed her eyes and reviewed her most intimate moments with him, she couldn't help but think back to all that delicacy and sweetness he shown towards her. Okay, he was so alone with Anais, but she couldn't ignore that, she couldn't so easily betray the trust that Lord Maul was placing in her, a Sith ... a Sith who revealed his innermost and hidden feelings, exposing a part of himself that in other circumstances no one would have ever seen and known ... this was something really great and important!

No. No, Anais could not ignore all this and therefore, the choice to stay with Lord Maul seemed to her the most correct one towards her master and the most sincere one towards him.

Lord Sidius sent Darth Maul to perform various missions and complete others.

For Darth Maul it was routine, nothing particularly exciting, no fight against the Jedi, his enemies, against whom he really enjoyed fighting as they were the only ones at his height. He had already killed two, the Padawan Eldra Kaitis and the master Qin-Gon Jinn, seriously injuring his Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi. Now he had just finished his mission and was on his way back to Coruscant. He felt need to see his little slave, he felt the desire to be close to her, to breathe her perfume, but above all, he felt need for her because Anais was the only creature able to cheer her soul, to appease his anger and his hatred. He still felt the adrenaline and the emotions he had just felt from the sustained struggle, the pleasure and satisfaction of having fought and killed people. But all this, while confirming his absolute greatness and power, made him feel empty. Anais, on the other hand, filled this void with her presence and made him feel even stronger, even greater. Darth Maul could not explain the reason for this thing, he could not understand what was because he had never happened to him before, but unfortunately until now, he had never had enough time to reflect on the actual causes of these emotions he was feeling.

While the Scimitar was traveling in hyperspace, Darth Maul's transponder activated and the figure of Lord Sidius appeared.

His ex-master had exceptional timing, he always knew how to track him down at the worst times ... now that he wanted to return to Coruscant to see Anais again, he surely had to send him somewhere else in the galaxy to do some kind of murder. Instead, Lord Sidius did not have any new missions to communicate to him, but simply wanted his apprentice to be present with him at a secret meeting with the Neimoidians, Nute Gunray and Rune Haako, prominent members of the Trade Federation.

Darth Maul knew very well that he could not refuse, much less make him understand that there was something better waiting for him elsewhere: this kind of attitude would endanger the life of his slave. If Lord Sidius had even suspected that Anais was beginning to occupy some importance in his life, something other than that of being a simple slave who had satisfy his sexual pleasures, he would have done everything to see him suffer, maybe expressly asking him to kill her to show how devoted he was to him and to him alone.

Darth Maul remembered the words of Lieutenant Razoo Qin-Fee: "If one day you want to reclaim your role as the Supreme Dark Lord of the Sith ... we will be with you!" ... when the image of Lord Sidius disappeared, Darth Maul growled and thought once more and with greater conviction, that that day would come soon. And he should have won, otherwise his little human slave would surely have ended up in the hands of his ex-master whose thought accelerated his heartbeat, causing the anger inside him to rise and he barely held back as he set the coordinates for reach Neimoidia.

Anais hadn't seen Lord Maul for four days.

Now these long periods of absence made her sad.

Initially, farther away her master was from that apartment, happier she was because, she stopped being afraid. But now things were a little different, it was as if something was missing, she felt incomplete, alone.

She also feared that, in one of these missions, her master might be ambushed and die. Obviously, that meant freedom, but honestly, what happened to her? She would become a slave again, perhaps to a different master, perhaps human like her, perhaps better than Lord Maul...and it took very little to be better than Lord Maul, given his nature ...

Anais placed the transponder on the edge of the tub, making sure it didn't get wet.

She immersed himself in hot, fragrant and bubbly water. This was how she liked to bathe and since she come to live in Lord Maul's apartment, this was a luxury she could afford whenever she wanted. She sadly thought back to the days when she was a Ganorhe slave's ... bathing in a tub was not a need that he and his men shared, so there was only a shower, quick and not very relaxing!

Her life had changed so much since Ganorhe, she had changed too.

She learned to feel emotions that made her life less flat, less monotonous ... it was as if, at some point in her life, Anais had discovered colors and therefore, it was as if, all around her, the things that surrounding her suddenly taken on another aspect. It was Lord Maul who made her feel all this, with his presence, with his strength, with his power, though dark and terrible ... she felt it, inside her, every time he was present, every time he was close to her ... that's why when he was so absent from that apartment, she began to feel incomplete, it was just as if something was missing.

Lord Maul told her to keep the transponder close as he would call her to give her instructions on how and when to reach it. Anais did not understand: how would she achieve him? And where? If he had gone away in his spaceship, how could she get to him? She had been waiting for this call all day, but still nothing. Now, it was almost time to go to sleep and Anais had decided first, to take a nice warm bath.

The girl thought about what she might have done if Lord Maul had been killed in one of his missions.

Anything.

She would never be able to survive for long on her own, she would go back to someone else's slave, but even if that someone else was not a killer or a Sith … he would never let her feel the emotions she was now feeling with him, even through a simple look.

Anais sighed.

But she wanted something more.

She wanted to understand what kind of emotions Lord Maul actually felt for her, how he viewed her, what she actually represented for him. In fact, Anais was afraid to open her heart, she was afraid of being hurt, she didn't know how much she could trust him.

She dived completely underwater for a few seconds and then emerged with her head covered in foam. Just then, the transponder activated and the figure of Lord Maul appeared. Anais went to the hologram to get a better look.

Yes, it was him, albeit in miniature!

Lord Maul reached Neimoidia.

This planet wasn't particularly unpleasant ... it wasn't one of his favorites, because like Coruscant, only the richest could live on the planet. But the cities of the planet were built on large bridges and this was particularly fascinating, so he thought that Anais might enjoy a walk on Neimoidia, a planet she had never visited by the way. After meeting Lord Sidius and the Neimoidians, Darth Maul would dedicated some of his time to his little slave, taking her to visit the most beautiful cities on the planet, obviously trying to attract the attention of citizens as little as possible.

Thus, he had booked a seat in first class on a Lambda-type T-4a shuttle, a light multipurpose shuttle used for transporting passengers that departed from Coruscant take the wealthy gentlemen, the politicians ... to the other equally wealthy planets that they were used as administrative zones. Anais would enjoyed a not particularly long journey aboard that luxurious shuttle and he would be there, waiting for her on Neimoidia. For his little slave it would certainly been a great adventure as she had never been used to leaving the homes of her masters. Darth Maul was enthusiastic about this idea and as he landed on Neimoidia to meet his master, he liked to imagine what emotions the girl might feel in learning what awaited her!

When his transponder reproduced the image of Anais, at first, Darth Maul did not understand where she was since she was all wet, then when he saw the foam on her head, although the image reproduced by the transponder was not one of the best, he realized that she had to be in the tub ... Anais had even taken her transponder to the bathroom! Darth Maul almost laughed, but as he had little time available to give her precise instructions, he let go of the comic aspect of the situation and pretending nothing had happened, greeted her:

-Hello Anais ... -

-Good evening my lord- the girl said, removing the foam from her forehead as it began to fall on her eyes. Darth Maul imagined for a moment Anais naked and wet body and wished to be immersed in that tub with her, to make her feel all the power and strength of his body inside her, but he pushed these thoughts away from his mind because it was not the most suitable time:

-Listen to me Anais: I have reserved a seat for you in first class on the shuttle T-4a which will leave Coruscant early tomorrow morning and will be here on Neimoidia this afternoon- Anais looked at the small holographic image of her master wrapped in his black cloak of which only the face was visible. What was she supposed to do? Should she take a shuttle and go to another planet? Alone? Perhaps she misunderstood:

-My lord... alone? - she asked him in an astonished tone. He looked at her impatiently for a moment, then added:

- Of course, you are old enough to travel alone, you do not need anyone to accompany you! - heard the slightly resentful tone of her master, because of the silly question she had just asked him, Anais just nodded head.

-Zelda will give you instructions on how to get to the shuttle's departure station, to get on board, just place the palm of your hand on one of the readers inside the station and you will be recognized -

Anais nodded once again, but this time Darth Maul noticed the flicker of excitement that crossed his slave's eyes and was delighted. Anais must liked this idea of traveling alone and still didn't know what awaited her on Neimoidia!

-Reach me on Neimoidia Anais, have a good trip- these were his last words, then his image disappeared and Anais was left alone in the bathroom, immersed in her tub.

Incredible !

She still didn't believe it! She would take a means of transport by herself and go to another planet !

She was really very happy: sure that alone ... her mind abruptly curbed her enthusiasm. How would she do it alone? Would she succeed? And did her master trust her? Once again Lord Maul shown her that he trusted his slave, that he had no doubts that she would take that shuttle to join him on Neimoidia, without fear that she might be wrong or worse, take another one to escape from he…

No, it would never happen.

Anais had no reason to betray his trust. She would join him on that planet, hoping that once there, no misadventure awaited her, but only to be able to spend a beautiful day in his presence.

She finished washing and then ran to Zelda to tell her everything and get the explanations that Lord Maul just said that the Twi'lek would give her.

Zelda was very impressed with this as usual. Lord Maul's behavior was now completely out of the ordinary. She could no longer understand what was happening to him. All right, that he felt a weakness for Anais was evident, a kind of sympathy, a pleasure to being in her presence, in talking to her ... but nothing had to go beyond this limit. A limit that with her, had never even been reached ... The woman smiled.

Anais touched something in Lord Maul's ruthless and cruel soul that no creature in the galaxy had ever dared to conquer, except of course his mother ...

However, although Anais had obtained this privilege, especially for her own good, She should not gone further. Only Lord Maul would benefited from this relationship, especially if he could get his hands on Anais's body, although this kind of thing was not in his habits, but only he would derived satisfaction from this relationship. Little Anais, on the other hand, would only pay the consequences. She would be consumed by his power, his strength, his desire for possession, his desire for lust, but she would never receive anything in return and her little soul, would slowly die out, in the darkness of his dark soul.

However Zelda explained to Anais very calmly and with great precision how to reach the stop of that shuttle, how to behave on board, how to best manage this…. adventure which was nothing else for naive Anais. Zelda knew very well, that the young human still was not able to see what was growing in the soul of Lord Maul and from which, she would done better to keep away.

Anais went to sleep extremely excited, she couldn't close her eyes at first, although she knew she had to and quickly because the morning would come early and she had to rest.

She fell asleep, her head still traveling fast from thought to thought without stopping. Maybe it was all this combination of thoughts, emotions, anxieties and fears that made her fall asleep, or ... or the thought that finally, after four days, she could see her master and spend some time with him.

The next day the alarm went off early for Anais: the girl got up without making too many fuss, washed quickly and got dressed. She chose comfortable clothes, very comfortable that allowed her to run in case of need, without too many problems. For this reason she put on again the leather pants and a simple black tank top. Above, however, a soft gray sweatshirt with a nice wide hood that she was already planning to keep on all the time she was out. As shoes, the usual black ankle boots.

Of course she wasn't very elegant, she realized, looking in the mirror, also imagining what her master might have thought and not even very attractive, but Anais absolutely did not want to attract people's attention, much less once she got on the shuttle... may anyone want to try to touch her! She also thought about taking her master's bracelet in case she needed it, but then she thought...and if seeing something like that on her wrist, someone wanted to try to steal it? No, it was better not to take it with her, it could be a reason for danger and then Lord Maul told her that to get on the shuttle, recognition through the palm of the hand would be enough, so there was no reason to take it with her and risk lose it.

Anais was walking fast, towards the station where she would take the shuttle to join her master on Neimoidia. She never visited that planet, Anais hoped it might be interesting. She also thought about the time to get there: when Lord Maul had contacted her via his transponder, for him, on Neimoidia, it must been morning since the T4-a shuttle would take her to the planet in the afternoon, while she left Coruscant which was early morning ... "How funny!" Anais thought, moving from one planet to another even the time changed drastically and each planet, had a different way of perceiving and calculating the passage of time! All these things had always fascinated her. Anais liked to discover, know, travel and now it seemed impossible to be able to really start doing it!

Arriving at the station that Zelda told her about, she didn't take long to recognize the shuttle that was to take her to Neimoidia: in fact, it was the only spaceship that had a fixed central wing and two movable side wings, at that moment closed, to save space because the aircraft was on the ground. Anais headed for the shuttle noting that, there were already some people waiting to get on, all very well dressed and elegant. The girl tried to recognize the races under those clothes: human, two Togruta with their typical Twi'lek-like bumps on their heads and with their montrals, horn-like bumps that started from the apex of their heads and at least, four or five Neimoidians. Anais recognized them for their smooth, noseless faces, for their streaked gray-green skin, and above all, for the membrane that protected their large red-orange eyes.

The girl stopped not far from them. They glanced at her quickly, probably disapproving of her simple attire. But Anais gave absolutely no importance to this aspect: she knew, in fact, from experience with one of her previous masters, that the Neimoidians valued wealth by wearing clothes that showed their economic well-being. Those close to her, must have been high-ranking officers because they wore ornate and luxurious tunics and high headdresses. They soul leave for Neimoidia, just like her, so Anais would make the journey with them and get off the shuttle when they got off. From that point of view, she couldn't been wrong!

Anais's heart was beating in her chest with emotion: it was her first journey, as a person ... let's say... free, alone, without anyone with her. After a few minutes of waiting, a man in uniform announced that it was possible to get on the shuttle and invited the waiting people to approach and place the palm of their hand on the display placed at the entrance of the shuttle. Anais thought that this man must be the captain of the ship, but then observing what he was doing, she realized that he must be more the conductor, that is, the ticket officer. In fact, the man was holding a small transparent display: once people put their palm on the display on the outside of the shuttle, they were recognized and he marked their presence on board the spaceship.

The man did this work very passively, limiting himself to absently greeting the people whose name and surname he read. When it was Anais's turn, as soon as the man met her gaze from under the gray hood, he looked at her with an expression of wonder, in fact he had never seen such a beautiful color in the eyes of a human female, yet. And he saw many alien races every day! When the display read the palm of the girl's hand, her name appeared on the man's display ... "Just her name? Didn't the girl have a surname?" he thought curiously, however he did not have much time to reflect on this matter, behind her there were other people waiting to board the spaceship, so with a friendly smile, he hastened to tell her:

-Good morning Miss Anais, welcome aboard, your seat will be, as soon as you enter, on the left, first class! - Anais returned with a kind smile and continued on, with her heart beating very fast. "First class!" she thought happily inside herself, finally getting into the shuttle and settling herself in the place the man had told her.

Her journey had just begun!

Darth Maul joined Lord Sidius in the palace of Viceroy Nute Gunray and Rune Haako, his personal advisor.

Gunray climbed to the heights of power with lies, lawlessness and murder. "Typical of these people" Darth Maul thought as he made his way to the hall where his master was. Lord Sidius held him in his hand because he knew what he done, but his intent never been to harm the Neimoidian, on the contrary, as a typical thing of his master, he apparently made him believe that he could give him everything he had always desired, in exchange for "small favors". Lord Sidius revealed to him who, in the Nute clan, could put his power at risk and thanks to this information, Nute became more and more powerful, eliminating one by one those who resisted him. When the Galactic Senate decided to tax trade routes, Lord Sidious reappeared to Nute to give him an order: to put the peaceful planet of Naboo under an economic blockade, in protest against such taxation and to prepare for its subsequent invasion. Lord Maul chuckled at the devilish cunning of his master, but every time he made these considerations, he also realized how dangerous it was.

He thought of Anais.

The girl should have left Coruscant by now.

Obviously his master should not known that, following this meeting, he and his slave would go on a visit to the cities of Neimoidia. Then another time, he thought about Razoo Qin-Fee's words, but quickly dismissed these considerations as he now entered the hall where his master was and it was time to close his mind so that Lord Sidius would not try to read his thoughts.

Upon entering the room, which was particularly dark, the only figures present were the two Neimoidians, Nute Gunray and Rune Haako and his master in front of them. In the dim light of the hall, nothing of his person was visible from under the gray hooded cloak. Darth Maul was reached by the gaze of his master who motioned him to stop where he was and to remain as much as possible in the darkness of the room. Darth Maul stopped and moved into a corner, crossing his arms in front of his chest, waiting. The two Neimoidians gave him a look of fear: they knew him, it was not the first time they saw him, but every time they met him they always felt the same emotions of terror.

For the two Neimoidians, the presence of the Sith behind them was like having a ghost ready to kill them at the first wrong move.

Lord Sidius called him to Neimoidia to make sure the two Neimoidians were clear in their minds that, if they betrayed him or made some mistake, as always, they would have to deal with Darth Maul. Darth Maul gave them a quick glance that burned the two squalid figures not far from him.

Nute Gunray and Rune Haako shivered.

At one point, while his master was giving them the orders they had to carry out, a sadly servant entered the dark room, silently, trembling with fear. Darth Maul sensed his emotion. The poor servant came as close as possible to Viceroy Nute Gunray, trembling more and more. Lord Sidius paused and was dumbfounded whether to electrocute him for entering that room, whose meeting must been secret, and for interrupting him while he spoke. The servant stopped and looking at the ground, without the courage to raise his eyes, whispered something, more to himself than to the viceroy:

-My lord... forgive my presence ... but I have to tell you some bad news ... a T4-a shuttle departing from Coruscant on which the five officers you had recalled were on board, just exploded near Deko Neimoidia ... I'm ... I'm sorry, there are no survivors! -

The servant walked slowly away from the hall, in silence, as he entered and then quickly disappeared, thanking the Creator for having survived that communication.

The two viceroys, upon hearing the news, looked at each other troubled and frightened and began to talk about a plot against them, against the people of the Neimoidians, alternating the words they were saying with phrases in their language.

Lord Sidius instead, cast a glance at his apprentice because as soon as the servant had said the words "shuttle T4-a ... explosion ... there are no survivors" he clearly perceived an irregularity in the force and when he turned towards him , he had just time to see his pupils tighten slightly, though his face remained unyielding. Something had "upset" him, but he would come back to this problem later. Now he had to finish his talk to the two Neimoidians, already distracted enough by the news just learned.

Darth Maul was petrified ... maybe he had misunderstood, maybe that wasn't the shuttle his slave boarded ... yes, it had to be. But as he tried to convince himself of this, there was something inside him that unfortunately told him that there was not much room for error and the shuttle that exploded in the skies of Deko Neimoidia, was the one on which was climbed his Anais. "No ... it's not possible ..." he kept repeating ... Anais ... dead?

Suddenly around him, he hadn't been able to feel anything anymore. The voice of his master, who in the meantime begun to speak to the Neimoidians again, was no longer able to hear it. Even the environment around him changed or rather ... disappeared, there was no longer the long table at the back of the room, the narrow and darkened windows, the columns ... everything disappeared, there was only darkness, a heavy and oppressive darkness from which for a few seconds, he could not get out.

But although his mind was troubled, Darth Maul managed to maintain an outwardly detached and indifferent image, as if the news he learned hadn't affected him in the least.

But inside him ... he felt all his anger and hatred coming on, with a frightening force he could hardly contain. Now he just hoped that this damn meeting would end as soon as possible, he had to get away from that place, he had to be able to verify that the shuttle that the servant just spoken, was not the one on which Anais boarded in Coruscant.

After the meeting, Nute Gunray and Rune Haako greeted Lord Sidius in silence with a short bow, who approached Darth Maul still hidden in the shadow of the hall. He followed with his gaze, the two Neimoidians leaving the room before them.

Soon after, Lord Sidius invited Darth Maul to follow him.

When they were side by side, his ex-master asked him:

-Lord Maul, how is the search for the spy I told you about? Did you figure out who it might be? -

-No my lord, not yet - he replied hard and decisive.

Although it made him angry, it was true, at the moment he still hadn't been able to find out who he was.

There was a moment of silence between the two.

-My dear boy - Lord Sidius spoke again, in his deceptive and, at the same time, dangerous tone: - Why the news learned from the servant, has created you so much trouble? -

Darth Maul knew he would ask him. As much as he closed his mind as soon as he entered the hall, when the servant told of the shuttle explosion, he not been able to hold back a surge of anguish at the thought that Anais was among the members of that crew and his master inevitably perceived.

He couldn't lie. Not with him at the time.

However, since Lord Sidius not yet received a response from his apprentice, he thought about adding more:

-I am always your master, Lord Maul, you know well that nothing escapes me ... - his tone of voice changed, now he become harsh and unfriendly, Darth Maul perceived it immediately. In those moments he hated him, he really hated him with all his strength because he wanted to prove that he was always the master and he, Darth Maul, his apprentice ... it was time to reclaim his power, his role as the Dark Lord of the Sith ... a role that had been his for years now, but the news learned from the servant and the idea that Anais could be dead, troubled him so much that he could not find the right concentration and strength to face his master.

No. That was not the right time, not yet ...

Therefore he tried to hold back his anger, and his contempt, he extended the fist of his right hand that he had instinctively formed by closing his fingers strongly and with due calm replied:

-My slave, was on that shuttle- he didn't add anything else.

On Lord Sidius's face there was an evil grin, he was enjoying the suffering of his apprentice. "This explains that irregularity in the strength that I perceived before ..." he thought satisfied. So it was as he always thought: there was more than just a normal physical attraction between his apprentice and his slave. But it was all over now, for purely accidental causes Anais was dead and his apprentice would be once again his weapon, strong and powerful as he always been, but without unnecessary distractions.

He laughed, although more than a laugh it was a sarcastic laugh, full of wickedness and sadistic pleasure:

-Sorry to learn it Lord Maul, but there are many beautiful slaves, I'm sure it won't take you long to find another one worthy of that role - and he laughed again in the same tone as before.

Darth Maul this time really barely held back his anger, he was really in trouble: hearing the words "there are so many beautiful slaves .." he would liked to stretch his hand towards his master's neck, so close, within reach of grasp ... at that moment, he could pried his head off his body with only the use of his hands.

In response, he let out a sort of growl, forcing his body and muscles to hold back his anger, while his hearts beating in his chest desperately asking him to do something, to kill ... to kill the one who still had the courage, to call master.

But Lord Sidius was not done yet:

-And tell me my young apprentice ... why was your slave Anais on that shuttle? - Darth Maul felt the fire coursing through his veins, felt his body burn ... why was he asking him? What interested him? But he breathed ... he breathed deeply, he was able to regain his concentration, but he could not help but respond in a dry and cutting way, clearly showing his impatience:

-It doesn't matter ... now she's dead- another question like this one and this time, really, he would been forced to act.

Lord Sidius sensed the situation, a confrontation with his apprentice was counterproductive at that moment, in that situation. Maul needed him, it was his weapon to do the dirty work leaving him to remain in the shadows to move the strings of the puppets that he held in his hands. And then, now that slave was dead, there was no more to worry about, what it had been ... it had been, so he didn't ask him anything else. He advised him that the spy he mentioned be found as soon as possible and then he took his leave.