Mordivai double checked the coordinates, surprised that Rylee had secured a new base location for the cult right here on Nar Shaddaa's ritzy promenade. As the building came into view, however, he understood. Perhaps it had once been a nightclub or gambling hall, but now it was almost a ruin. Still, Mordivai thought, with a little fixing up it would be serviceable. He liked the symbolism of such a place. Just like the people he hoped would find solace here, it was a place that was down on its luck, broken, and bruised, but it harbored promise, if only the right care was applied.

It was late, and he was surprised to see the lights still on. The halls were quiet. Mordivai passed by a discarded pile of broken holo signs, one of them depicting a cocktail glass and the other a dancing girl. His image reflected back at him in a fractured jumble from a cracked and dingy mirror on the wall. The red plush carpet was thick, but stained, and so faded in some areas that it had turned a sickly shade of orange.

As Mordivai rounded a corner and entered what would have been the casino's main floor, he heard voices. Rylee and Destris arguing.

"I told you we don't need this stuff anymore, Rylee. Did you-"

Rylee's voice cut in, sounding shrill and pained. "The others won't leave Paladius without knowing we've got our own supply. We're all afraid he'll find-"

Mordivai crept around the corner in time to see Destris looming over Rylee, his hand swiping through the air as he bellowed, "Don't tell me you've been still taking it too! Damn it, Rylee! How will you be strong enough for what-"

Rylee's head shot up and her eyes met Mordivai's from across the room. Destris saw the shift in her gaze and stopped short, spinning around to greet Mordivai with a scowl.

"What's going on?" Mordivai glanced from Destris to Rylee.

Rylee rushed over to meet him. "It's nothing, my lord. Just a disagreement about what to do with these vats of medicinal water. Remember I told you how Paladius protected us from the Rot by adding the vaccine to our water supply? We hope to get more members to leave but they want assurances that they'll be safe with us, both from the Rot and from Paladius."

Mordivai looked at Destris, waiting for his response.

"It's dangerous to steal vats from Paladius's supplies. I think we'd be better off making a clean break." Destris crossed his arms shot a glare in Rylee's direction.

"We have these vats now, so let's use them," Mordivai said, "but we can decide later if we really need more." He made a mental note to look into this vaccine business a little closer. Was the Rot really that contagious? He had heard the Rot mentioned in the holo news broadcasts, but the authorities had made it sound more like a problem born of poor sanitation and terrible living conditions. Wasn't it easily treatable for those who could afford it? Now that he had his grandmother's inheritance, maybe he could look into buying a legitimate and legal supply for Paladius's ex-cult members.

Rylee and Destris appeared satisfied with this answer. Destris wandered off to pack some junk into crates, finding himself a corner that was far away to work in. Rylee smiled at him, looking relieved.

"So what do you think about this place, my lord? I know it needs work, but I'm sure Destris and I can get some volunteers to help us with clean-up, as soon as we get more to join us." She was spinning that bracelet around and around her wrist again, obviously nervous about his reaction.

"It's great," Mordivai said, stopping her with a light touch to her arm. "I like it. You did a good job finding it."

Rylee blushed furiously. "Thank you, my lord. I'm glad you think so. I knew when I heard this place was for sale that I needed to act quickly and grab it, and then Destris said-My lord! You're bleeding!" Her eyes flicked to his forehead.

"I'm fine," Mordivai said. Earlier that evening, he had been trying to give the vaccine to a young boy when he had been smacked in the head by a flying rock. It had not taken Mordivai long to learn that many of the people on Nar Shaddaa's streets had never known kindness and were suspicious of his motives in helping them. More than once he had been accused of being an organ thief.

"Not everyone trusts me when I come at them with a needle," Mordivai said. "Vaccine or no." He shrugged.

"Someone attacked you?"

"Or tried to anyway. One of the homeless on the street."

"Please, my lord, let me get you a med pack."

Mordivai let her lead him to a back room lined with cluttered shelves. He cleared a spot for himself on a chair by shifting aside a pile of old holo recordings, noticing as he set them on the floor that one had been labeled "topless table dancer." He settled in and looked up to see Rylee leaning in close with a cloth in one hand and an antiseptic spray in the other.

"May I?"

He nodded, and she began to lightly dab at the cut. Her face was so close that Mordivai found he was having trouble finding a suitable place to plant his gaze, and he stared awkwardly out of the corner of his eyes until he decided that his avoidance was perhaps too obvious, so he glanced back at Rylee again. She had a tiny freckle next to her nose and full lips that he found himself watching when she spoke.

"Let me just hold your hair out of the way now and I can…"

Her voice dropped away and Mordivai felt her fingers slide into his hair as she pushed it back from his forehead. The spritz of the antiseptic was icy cold against his skin and he blinked when a light mist fell across his nose.

"Oh! I'm sorry, did I get that in your eye?"

"No, no it's fine."

She stepped back to examine her handiwork and then her eyes shifted to his right cheek.

"My lord," she said, almost whispering, "what happened to you?" Her hand pushed back the swath of hair that usually hung down to cover his burn scar. Mordivai felt suddenly uncomfortable and exposed.

"An old wound," he said quickly, and guided her hand away, grateful when he felt his hair curtaining his face once more.

"I'm sorry, my lord. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." She stepped away to stow the medkit.

Mordivai looked around, eager to find something to talk about that would change the subject. "This place is bigger on the inside than it looks from the outside."

"I know!" Rylee called from over her shoulder. "It's great. There's a whole second floor too."

"Would you show me around?"

She spun around and gave him an excited grin. "Of course!"

The upper story was not as large as the lower, containing a few rooms that Mordivai guessed might have been offices, as well as a refresher and even a tiny kitchen. Mordivai peeked into the rooms as they passed, and spotted the shadowy shapes of out-of-date furniture as well as the occasional disassembled droid. A few of the rooms actually had tiny windows that looked out on the promenade, although the blinds that covered them were garishly out of date in color and design.

"I'm still working to get the electricity up in these rooms, my lord. Only a few things work, but no lights. I expect to have it fixed soon."

Rylee stopped at the final room at the end of a hallway.

"Look at the view from this window, my lord."

She picked her way through the dark room and turned a crank on the wall. The blinds shuddered and then rose with a groan to reveal a long horizontal window, barely wider than his hand, revealing the ever bright lights of the promenade. Mordivai followed her and peered out.

"Look," she said, suddenly very close to his ear, "in between that vendor's stall and the credit booth, you can just see the top of Karagga the Hutt's hat."

She pointed and Mordivai leaned in close. He followed the direction of her finger and spotted the top of the giant, gaudy statue.

"I see it." He stepped back and gave her a grin. "Glorious Karagga the Hutt. What a view. They should have charged us extra for that."

"I know, right?" She laughed, then grew serious. "This is so much better than the place Paladius had us in. And now it's yours."

"You did well, Rylee."

In the dark, Mordivai could not see Rylee's expression, but the glittering lights from the promenade caught in her eyes like sparks. Her voice dropped in pitch.

"I'm here for you, my lord. Whatever you need."

Mordivai struggled for a response. "Thank you," he said at last.

"No thanks are needed," she said quietly. She took an audible breath then and turned to face him.

"My lord, there is something I'd like to ask you. A favor."

"What is it?"

"My apartment is a ways from here...it's not in a good district, lots of crime, you know, and...well, I was wondering if I could stay here for a while, just until we get this place cleaned up of course, so then I don't have to walk so far, especially on nights when I work late, like tonight." She paused to take another breath and waited expectantly for his response.

"I don't see why not. It might be good to have someone watching over the place, especially until we get the security systems running. But Rylee.." the thought was quickly forming, and Mordivai decided he liked it, "why don't you just stay here as long as you like? We've got empty rooms up here."

"Really? You mean that?" She bolted forward and threw her arms around him, then immediately jumped back stuttering apologies. "I didn't mean to be so familiar...I just...oh, thank you so much!"

"Sure." Mordivai smiled and she sighed, granting him a blissful smile in return.

She glanced back out the window again. "Soon, everything that was once Paladius's will be yours, my lord."

Mordivai had a sudden disturbing thought.

"I hope that didn't used to include you as well."

She looked away as if embarrassed. "No, Paladius was only interested in himself." Her head snapped up as she added, "and I'm glad for that. I would not have wanted to have earned that...that kind of attention from him. But Paladius is not like you, my lord."

There was a pause before Rylee continued. "My lord, do you have far to go to where you are staying?"

"I have my ship at the spaceport."

"The spaceport? That's a good trek away. This place is yours now. You should stay here."

"Where?" Mordivai chuckled, thinking of the mountains of furniture in this place. "This place doesn't have any beds, does it?"

"There is a bed right here. It's not luxurious, but it's clean." She gestured behind her and Mordivai saw a mattress that he had failed to notice in the dark, with blankets and a pillow already laid out. He wondered if Rylee had in fact slept here once already or if she had been that hopeful that he would let her stay.

"I...hope you don't think it presumptuous, but I made this bed up for you, my lord."

The faint light passing through the windows painted Rylee's face in a pale, silvery glow. Mordivai realized she was nervous, trepidation wafting off of her like a scent, reaching him through the Force.

"Thank you," he said. "That was kind of you."

She continued to stare at him a moment, then licked her lips and looked away. Mordivai searched his brain, trying to determine what he might have said or done that could have made her feel so uncomfortable around him.

"My lord," her voice was practically a whisper. "Paladius never asked for anything...untoward of me. But for you, I would be willing to show my gratitude...if you should wish it."

For a moment, Mordivai thought he had misunderstood her meaning, but then it all came together and made sense.

"Rylee, no. I would never ask such a thing."

Instead of relief, however, she lowered her eyes and blinked rapidly a few times. "Of course, my lord. I only wish to make you feel welcome here. I'm sure are you are used to better…"

Horrified, Mordivai realized that she had taken his refusal as a personal rejection. Could he be bungling this any more?

"That's not what I meant, Rylee. I merely...I am not the type to expect such favors from those who work for me."

"I know," she said, and a faint smile crossed her lips. "That's why it is such an honor to serve you. That's why I would go to your bed so willingly."

Rylee was attractive, there was no doubt. And her trembling subservience was oddly enticing, as much as Mordivai hated to admit it. There was no way he could refuse her, he realized, without hurting her feelings. And really, would joining her in that bed be such an odious task after all? Far from it.

"Thank you, Rylee." He reached out to cup her cheek, and she nuzzled his hand like a pet starved for affection. He could already feel anticipation feeding her thoughts, tinged with hints of desire. When he stepped closer, she looked up at him expectantly, and when he leaned in to kiss her, she met him halfway, gently entwining her arms around his neck to draw him closer.

It was easy after that, so easy, to allow her warm, fluttering hands to undress him, to watch as she did the same with her own clothes, dropping them one by one on the floor before him. And she was right about the bed too. It was clean and soft and inviting, although he enjoyed that not nearly as much as the sensation of sinking into her softness instead. He fell asleep at last, warm and sated, with her arm draped over his shoulder and the faint puff of her breath against his back.