The floor was hard and she could feel her eyelids beginning to swell. Mustering what little strength she felt she possessed, she raised herself up and moved back toward the bed, dropping the red velvet and donning her previously discarded gown.
It just wasn't fair. She had finally found the man who possessed the other half of her soul and now she was being forced to give him up. She wasn't sure if she could, but she had to, didn't she?
Moving to the bathing room, she released the cold water into the sink and splashed some of it on her face. Glancing up into the mirror, she was shocked to see the signs of her despair there.
If she did go back to Maul and married him, she knew deep within her heart that it wouldn't last long. One of them would be dead soon and more than likely, it would be her. She was too strong willed for this fate. And then what good would she be to her people?
Maybe, just maybe, she could serve them better by resisting and possibly even forming alliances against the Empire instead of joining it. Naboo would suffer initially, but if they could ultimately free themselves and other planets from its dictatorial tyranny, they would be better off.
Besides, she now knew Maul much better. She had had her suspicions, but had been blinded by her prejudices and naivety of royalty. Obi-Wan's stories of his childhood rang with truth. Maul was a monster. There was no way she would join with him. She belonged with Obi-Wan.
As that realization settled in her mind, she looked once more into the mirror and saw a fresh and determined face looking back. This was right. She must go to Obi-Wan and tell him.
The feeling of a presence in the next room, more than an actual sensory perception, caused her to spin and move that direction as a large smile lit her face. "Obi-Wan."
Her smile was quickly replaced with a look of fear as the man standing in the room glaring at her was not the man she loved. It was the young man that Obi-Wan had nearly choked to death back at Seralia, and he was holding something in his hand.
Before Padmé had time to react, she felt a sharp prick to her neck, and then a drugging sensation seeping throughout her body. She lost consciousness quickly.
"Conceal the ship in the planet's rings."
Obi-Wan wasn't sure he had been completely successful in his escape, and wasn't taking any chances. The orbital rings of Correlia would hide them well enough, for a while. It was the only thing he could think of to do right now anyway. His mind wasn't working properly, not since Padmé had informed him of her intentions of returning to Maul.
He and Jarell knew and trusted many beings on Corellia. They would set up a meeting with Maul here. It was the safest place he could think of. But right now, he really didn't want to think about it. If he did, it would drive him mad.
Jarell seemed to pick up on his emotional upheaval and moved to his side. "How long should we maintain orbit, Captain?"
"A couple of hours. Let me get my head straight."
A hand on his shoulder was the only comfort he could offer his friend.
The somber mood of the bridge was abruptly disrupted by a beep coming from one of the control panels. The officer stationed there stammered his report, as if not believing what he saw. Kenobi was quickly peering over his shoulder at the blip that had originated apparently from his own ship.
"One of our own shuttles captain! Two life signs on board." The pirate's hands clicked over several command keys before his voice lowered in pitch. "One male...one...female."
Obi-Wan immediately bolted from the bridge and soon entered his now empty quarters. No signs of struggle. Perhaps she had gone willingly. She was going to go anyway. This just made it easier, didn't it?
He sat himself down heavily onto his desk chair, rotating it slightly with the push of his foot, turning to see Jarell standing in the doorway.
"All crew accounted for except young Tanner."
Tanner. Kenobi's head nodded, a smirk crossing his face. He should havestrangled the man when he had the chance back at the dock. Betrayed by one of his own crew! That had never happened to him before, but it did explain a lot. Maul seemed to show up at the most inconvenient times and he knew it wouldn't be long before he would show up again. The shuttle Tanner had taken Padmé away in was a short-range vessel.
The sympathy that he saw in his first officer's eyes did little to ease the pain he now suffered. However, the pain of one of his own crew betraying him paled in comparison to the pain he felt at losing Padmé. It was deep, and etching a scar onto his very soul, a scar that he expected he would bear for the rest of his life.