Vader was caught in a whirlwind of rage as he stormed through the tower, killing at least two or three guards out of spite as he made his way out to the landing pad. The unthinkable negligence in Deidra's care was staggering. The very woman who would mother his own child, disregarded as unimportant.
It was an oversight. A failure. One he wasn't willing to accept. The origin of it all began at the highest levels of power. Ultimately, Vader reasoned, it was his Master's fault. Finally reaching the landing pad the Dark Lord mounted one of the speeder bikes parked out front, and took off towards the Imperial Palace.
He bobbed and weaved his way through the thick Coruscant traffic paying no mind to any laws or speed limits as he did. It was only a short jaunt before he arrived at the palace. Just as always, his presence was uncontested whether he had been expected or not.
Night had already fallen by the time he had left his tower, and now his Master would be retiring to his quarters. Vader made a beeline to where he felt the man's presence. He sensed that Sidious could feel his presence in return. His Master was not happy for the intrusion.
At times, causing such a bother to his Master would instill a sense of fear, a brief thought of repercussions to his actions and words. Though many of those times he still felt justified in his belligerence. This time Vader doubted the man could deny fault in the way his betrothed had been handled. He demanded something in return, even if only recognition alone.
Vader resolved to but his foot down. He would bend to the man's will, and more often than not that was the case. But he would not have his own reputation trampled on. For all the service he had ever given to the Empire, to the Emperor- his own Master, he expected more. Mistreating the one who had been brought for him, was the same as mistreating his own person. It was an insult he was not willing to take silently.
Approaching the grand doors to his Master's chambers, he parted them as he strode through, his fists clenched with burning rage. The moment he entered he was taken slightly by surprise to see a woman there, hugging her knees to her chest as she sat curled up on one of the plush velvet loungers in the sitting area of his Master's bedroom. She had bright red, long curly hair and freckles that adorned every inch of her skin. The dark black of her simple sleep clothes looked strange on her, not suiting her wild hazel eyes or untamed shock of hair.
"Apprentice," Sidious regarded him with distaste in his voice as he leisurely approached Vader, clothed in nothing but loosely fitted trousers. For him they served as sleep clothes, though the fabric of them had been woven from the finest silk in the galaxy. Their cost would have been enough to feed a family of five for six standard months. Such expenditures were a commonality for the Emperor.
"What is it that brings you to disturb me at this hour?" He asked in a curt demanding tone, one that was overwritten with his executive charm. Vader could see his Master's impatience in the way his melted features scowled ever so slightly. His voice only hinted at the man that lie beneath.
But Vader knew what his voice meant. He wasn't in the mood to cater to anyone's foolishness. He certainly wasn't about to pander to anyone's misplaced complaints. It was very well, Vader thought. He was more than justified in his discontent.
The red headed woman must have known what his voice implied as well. She cringed, visibly flinching as his Master spoke in soft, snarling words. Vader paid her no mind. "You know what brings me, Master." Vader insisted, his rage seething just below his skin.
"Was Lady Deidra not to your liking, Lord Vader?" Sidious cooed tauntingly.
"She was nearly dead by the time I found her. Had I arrived a few moments later, she would have been lost." Vader declared darkly, an edge of something unidentifiable in his voice. It was something he couldn't explain or relate to. Was it concern? For whatever it may have been, all he felt was the simmering violence that wanted to be unleashed on someone in the name of vengeance. It wouldn't right the error, but it would soothe him for a moment, like a soft cooling breeze against sunscorched skin.
"I see." Sidious said pensively. "And you, Lord Vader. Ever the sentimental one, aren't you." His master declared as he crept closer, pointing an accusing finger at him, damning him.
"Sentiment has nothing to do with it," Vader snarled. "Mistreating her is disrespect to me. I won't have it."
"And who mistreated her, Lord Vader? Did someone try to kill her? Poison her?" Sidious said in a wretched knowing voice.
Vader's lip curled as his fists clenched, reflexively pooling force around himself to inflict on others. "No." He ground out, the scarlet in his eyes glowing brightly.
"No." Sidious echoed. "She tried to take her own life." He declared, as if it meant something. As if how it happened mattered.
"Yes. She did. But that's hardly the point." Vader persisted. "The pills and drink were provided for her against anyone's better judgement. It was careless. Unacceptable." Vader said, feeling his vocal chords taut in his throat, straining with what could have been emotion.
Emotion. What was there, other than anger? Rage? Determination?
"Perhaps." Sidious croaked contemplatively before his wicked yellow eyes snapped up to stare through his apprentice. "Yet I sense something much more troubling. Something is stirring inside you Lord Vader." He said, measuring him in his fixed glare. "Conflict. Weakness."
"The only thing stirring is my rage at the obvious negligence in Deidra's care. If the woman who is to bear my own children is not to be respected and properly cared for, what does that say about the Lord to whom she belongs?" Vader shouted. The red headed woman on the lounger startled at the sudden vehemence.
"I won't be the brunt of someone's bad joke, Master." Vader said low, countering his burst of aggression with quieter words.
Sidious still locked his eyes on him unrelentingly, his expression changing very little. "There may be validity to your quarrel." He said, recanting only slightly. "You have my, deepest regrets for the lapse in her care." He paused, his eyes darkening and becoming hardened. "It is to be kept in mind that she had suffered greatly before she came to us. Not all of her problems can be pawned off on others." Sidious said in a sharp voice.
Vader offered up a glance of disdain in response to his Master's reprimand. Sidious had given his version of an apology, and it was all he was going to recieve. "Yes, Master." Vader said dryly.
"Now leave at once. I have other pressing matters to attend to." Sidious said tellingly. The girl wrapped herself tighter in her robes, slinking down into the lounger as her eyes became willfully vacant hiding any fear or sorrow. He could feel there was much of those two things hidden under the surface. Vader glanced at her with only passing curiosity before he turned to take his leave.
The muted sadness in her eyes reminded him of what he had seen in Deidra before she threw herself off the ledge. It was the look of a soul, haunted by memories much better left forgotten. He had seen it in Padme's eyes as she cursed him with her last words.
I love you.
And Obi-wan. So many times he had seen it in Obi-wan. Once it had crushed him. Anakin had felt him, but he could never have him. Oh how haunted the man's eyes had been in that sick moment of realization. Once tasted, forever remembered, loathed, hated. Obi-wan was still haunted. He could see it in the man's dull, lifeless eyes. And Vader was glad for it.
….
Deidra awoke, her body stiff and her head pounding. She lie under starched white sheets, the smell of bacta and disinfectant burning her nostrils. Her eyes blinked open under the harsh fluorescent lighting that shone from ceiling fixtures; the kind that left stark shadows where their light didn't reach.
Curling her spine she moved to rise up, rubbing at her eyes as she surveyed the room around her. There wasn't much to be seen. The walls were a cold white color that made her skin look darker in comparison. The sleeper was a solid block of something, not unlike duraplast in texture and density. It was seamlessly fused into the corner of her otherwise unremarkable room. It reminded her of a prison cell, nothing sharp or usable to inflict an injury to herself or others.
Isolation. That's where they had put her, in an isolation chamber. Not even windows to look out of, or holo screens as fake windows to give the illusion of a larger space. The walls were seamless, no door to be seen. Wherever it happened to be, it was recessed and perfectly blended, creating the illusion of being completely trapped and helpless. Although for her, that wasn't far from the truth.
But she had so nearly been free. Free from all that would transpire, free from the machine she found herself caught up in. But it had been taken from her, just like everything else.
Vader. He had taken it. Deidra remembered in a haze, the face of the man as he cased up the steps. She heard the patter of his boots on the stone steps as he ran up to catch her, almost as if he had known what she was about to do. And his eyes. No holo had ever done them justice. They were two gleaming orbs of fire, twin suns spiked with the crimson stain of blood. Most disturbing of all was how he had reached out for her, without reaching at all.
She had heard stories about the Jedi, the mystic beings and their force powers. Her parents hadn't ever been to keen on the subject. They detested the Jedi. Heartless baby snatchers, they had called them. Perhaps they had sensed the treachery of the order all those years ago. She had learned to emulate their prejudice, finding them unnerving at best.
But the way he had reached out for her, suspending her in midair, reminded her of everything she had ever heard about the Jedi. Most of which came from hushed whispers and gossip during the rebel uprising, a dark period during the Clone Wars.
Her homeworld of Onderon held steadfast to their Separatist allegiance throughout the conflict. In spite of their partisan declaration, enough citizens had dissented, and the rebellion was born. Republic inspired terrorism tore through their major cities as war ravaged the land. There had been tell of a small group of Jedi on a secret mission, training the rebel groups, shaping them into soldiers, skilled terrorists.
The credibility of her sources had remained undetermined, but the stories had been outlandish, fantastical. Levitation, invisibility, mind control, all manner of manipulation and superiority over any other living being. The Jedi were a story, a fairy tale. Only they weren't. They were terrifying.
And who other than a Jedi had such power? Deidra thought over it, a shiver dancing down her spine. He reached out for her, and she stopped. Everything stopped.
She didn't remember much after that. The pills and alcohol had been too strong. They should have been sufficient to end her alone, but she didn't like the idea of his hands touching her, not even in death. No one would touch her but the duracrete that her body would slam against as she fell to the depths below. Her body wasn't theirs to keep, or to burry.
Deidra's pulse quickened as she felt that eminence again. She had felt it before, just before Vader had come for her. It was the feeling when everything began spiral quickly, too quickly. It was the telling of something to come, as if the very air was trying to whisper a warning. The rising panic urged her to act. Shakily she tore the stiff sheet off of her body and began running her hand on the wall, searching for some recessed button that might trigger a door to open.
"Hello!" Deidra shouted, giving up her search just as quickly as it had begun. She rapped her fist against the solid wall. It barely made a sound. "Hello!" Deidra cried out again, feeling her chest restrict with fear. Still, no response. But something was coming closer, closer still.
Turning her efforts to another wall, she began knocking and crying out for someone, anyone, to let her out. Then suddenly, the soft whirring of a door opening sounded behind her. A dark presence flooded the room, filling the air, clinging to her skin.
Deidra turned to see a rectangular cut out where the door had given way. He stood there on the precipice. His shoulders broad, menacing. The black of his robes stood harshly against the light color of his skin. Not so pale as she, but fair skinned. His hair fell in golden brown locks down the sides of his face quite handsomely. His eyes, as lethal as they had ever been. Still, nothing like she had ever seen of him on the holonet.
"How are you feeling?" Vader asked in a strange cadence. It lingered on an air of indifference, yet there was a quality to it that seemed softer. His expression was placid, his stare unforgiving.
"Like a prisoner." Deidra shot back with a tremor in her voice. Her face showed her fear. Her clenched fists told of her rage.
The man averted his eyes. "This is your home now. You're not a prisoner here." He stated, regaining eye contact that she couldn't break away from, even though she so desperately wanted to.
"If i'm not a prisoner, let me go. Let me leave." Deidra said, gaining momentum. As much as the man inspired a sense of fear, she also felt that he meant her no harm. It was a strange, conflicting dichotomy of divergent emotions.
"I would if I could. It's not up to me." The man said, something like a fleeting apology in his fiery stare.
"So I am a prisoner then." Deidra said insistently. Her stomach churned. Not a prisoner. A resource. A womb for his children. Her pallor grew ashen at the thought as a spark of horror flashed in her eyes.
Almost as if he could hear her shameful thoughts, the man cast his stare downwards. "We are all subject to the Emperor's wishes and decrees." He paused, his brow furrowed. "It is always unwise to contest the Emperor. He has no tolerance for disobedience." The man clenched his fists and released them. That was the only telling sign of his own anger or frustration, yet Deidra could feel the man's emotions boiling around her.
Shame, anger, hate. So much hate. Deidra might have felt sorry for him.
"I'm not-" She started then stopped, halted by the gravity of her words and their implications. "I won't… I'll never let you- I mean... I won't go willingly." She bit out awkwardly, feeling light headed in her fear.
His eyes flitted up to meet hers again. "I can't force you. I won't. How can I disrespect the woman who would carry my own children?" He said, nearly insulted she would insinuate he would be violent with her to begin with. There was a genuine quality to his words, inflected with emotion, not the monotone facade he had shown up to that point.
Something about it made her heart flutter, made her think that perhaps her own perceptions about him were wrong. A slight pang of guilt tickled in her chest. He had saved her life, come quickly after she had woken up to ask how she was feeling. Maybe it was true, that he was as much under the Emperor's thumb as she was. He has no tolerance for disobedience, the man had said. How had he come to know? Did it matter at all?
No, not really.
"You should have let me fall." Deidra said, her eyes welling with hot tears. "You should have just let me die."
Instead of answering, the man stepped forwards into the isolation chamber, directly towards her. Deidra involuntarily jerked back, slamming her head against the wall behind her. She shrugged it off and stood on guard as he continued forwards, ignoring her clumsiness. Stopping only inches shy of touching her, the man withdrew something from the inner fold of his robes.
Deidra winced, her body bracing for something that never happened. In the palm of his ungloved hand he held a small ring, gold in color with foreign characters etched into the wide flat band of metal. Atop it was a gleaming black crystal that seemed to pulse with energy as she looked at it. Deidra was entranced by the gem, locked in it's pull.
Losing patience, Vader grabbed her hand and slipped the dark jeweled ring on her finger with abrupt movements. The feel of his leather gloved hand on her skin felt odd, empty, opposed to the heat of his ungloved hand that slid the ring in place. Feeling even more confused she looked at the ring, then back at the Dark Lord who stood before her, with a question on her face.
The man's expression showed his ever waning patience. "This will let everyone in the tower know who you are. It's a sign of my protection." He said, his words short and perhaps a shade resentful. The air in the room turned darker for his slight shift in mood.
Deidra tried to pay it no mind. "And who am I?" She said, eyes daring, voice grating against his nerves.
Vader's jaw tensed in aggravation. "The lady of the tower." The man said flatly, unamused. He seemed wrung dry of any emotion he might have held at the start.
The title seemed like it might have been an honor to hold, but it felt like a curse, the flat tone of his voice making her feel no more welcome. "The whole tower is yours to explore. Feel free to wander, make yourself at home. I'll find you later, when you're more settled in." He said, turning for the door to make his leave.
The man paused, turning his head to speak over his shoulder. "Oh, I should mention. Any harm that comes to you will reflect badly on everyone else here. Should you meet with any untimely end, the staff will be dealt with in kind." His words were icy, sharp stabbing threats that struck her core.
Deidra's lips curled downwards in a bitter frown as if she had just tasted something terrible. The man continued to walk away, leaving her alone to leave or do as she pleased. What an awful man, she thought, resisting the urge to tear off the ring and throw it across the room.
Just a man, she told herself. Deidra didn't want to say the name, not even inside herself. The syllables that formed the name Darth Vader seemed to invoke a kind of demon, something too terrible to comprehend. Beyond the title, he was still just a man, if she chose to believe it.
He wanted her to believe he was some poor mistreated underling of the Emperor. In the same breath he would casually threaten the deaths of so many beings, for the sake of exercising control. The echo of guilt she felt earlier was replaced by a righteous anger. He was a mystery of a man, and she cared little to unravel the secrets of him. He was strange, cruel, distant. Even if there was an echo of something else beneath.
How was it the air thickened like tar when he was in the room? How his very presence filled ones senses with dread? If his only saving grace was his word that he wouldn't force himself on her, it wasn't much a credit to his personality or character.
I'll find you later, when you're more settled in. Now those words sounded like another threat. One she wanted to so badly be wrong about. Deidra supposed, only time would tell the true nature of those words.
Regardless, she had permission to leave the confines of isolation, and she very much intended on retreating back to her suite as quickly as possible to redress herself to better suit her comfort level. She didn't consider herself prude, but she never had shown so much skin in her entire life. She didn't understand how anyone could feel at ease in such sparse coverings.
As she darted out from the isolation room and ventured into the larger medical area, the staff members huddled at the far corners of the room behind their desks and screens, pretending to read charts while murmuring amongst themselves. She tried to keep her eyes straight ahead and ignore their presence, but it was difficult. She didn't need to look to see their eyes on her. She could feel them burning into her skin. So many of them, twenty at least, passing hushed whispers between themselves as she walked by.
Fear. Terror. They were helplessly afraid of her. She could sense it like a static charge in the air, making the tiny hairs on her arm stand on end. Vader's threat towards her would be unspoken knowledge among the staff, she was sure. They wouldn't need to be told to know her welfare would mean their survival. Her heart pitied them and burned with anger all at the same time, curdling her regard for the Dark Lord as the moments passed.
With a quickened pace Deidra strode out of the medical wing and into a grand hall, as empty as it was stark white in color. She looked around, realizing she hadn't the faintest clue which direction would take her back to her suite. Without even needing to ask or look for someone to help her, a maidservant came rushing to her side.
Deidra couldn't tell if it was one of the women from earlier who had helped groom and dress her, but her hair was held in the same fashion, her robes identical to those of the women she had met before. "You're feeling better already, milady? Such a quick recovery." She remarked in a surprised voice.
"Um, yes," Deidra answered back, partially ashamed. She opened her mouth to ask a question but was interrupted before she could utter a single syllable.
"You must want to retire to your chambers. Let me show you the way." The woman said, her words sounding more like an order than a suggestion, even in her soft cadence.
"Yes, please." Deidra acquiesced, not thinking twice about it. They headed to the western artery of the tower, the large spiraling staircase that ran the entire length of Vader's domain. Casing the stairs for a few descending floors, they came to her suite rather quickly.
"Is there anything you need, or shall I leave you to it?" The woman asked politely.
"Actually, there is one thing. Could you bring me one of your spare uniforms? One that will fit me?" Deidra asked.
The woman paused for a moment, looking uncertain for the span of a heartbeat. "Of course milady. Will that be all?"
"Yes. You can leave it in the dressing room, I'm going to go to sleep, now." She said, feeling exhausted all of a sudden. The woman had commented about her quick recovery, but she didn't know how long she had been asleep. The sky outside her veranda was dark, dotted by the distant streams of traffic that trailed across the globe. Perhaps it was even the same rotation? If that was the case, she had no doubt the medical care was cutting edge. Not at all what they had been privy to on Onderon.
Putting it out of mind, Deidra slinked over to her dressing room and tore out of her high fashion garments. Looking all over for a set of sleep clothes, she found none that would suit her needs. After giving up the search, she found a silken chamise that fell just past her hips. It was loosely fitted enough to be comfortable, but still entirely too lavish.
With a sigh she shrugged and headed to her bedroom, the next door over. Entering the room her eyes immediately fell to him, sitting at the corner of the room on her chaise lounger beside the balcony.
"Are you feeling more settled?" He asked, a vague disinterest in his words.
"No, not at all." Deidra said, her feet planted firmly on the floor below her, ready to bolt if the need arose. Still all too aware of every inch of her uncovered skin.
"That's unfortunate." He said flatly.
"Yes, well, i'm going to bed so, I would like for you to leave. Now." Deidra said, her words more demanding than asking.
For the first time he exhibited an emotion other than the passive aggressive stoicism that seemed to overwrite all of his words. Not quite a smile, a corner of the man's mouth turned up in a smirk as he rose from the chaise and stalked right towards her. Something had amused him for sure, she wasn't sure of what, though she wasn't amused.
He stopped about a meter in front of her, his fiery stare looking her up and down, his patience waning yet again. "Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to let me leave?" He asked rhetorically.
Deidra's face turned a brilliant red as she stepped aside, immediately and helplessly embarrassed. She shouldn't allow herself to feel such things in his presence. It was a weakening trait that would only degrade her iron will in his eyes. But she couldn't help but feel like a foolish child at such an obvious oversight. As hard as she tried not to be so affected, he kept her on edge.
All for the wrong reasons.
She refused to apologize as she stepped aside, standing by the precipice in wait for him to leave, but he just stood there. Then he turned to face her.
"Once it's done you'll never have to see me again, if that's what you want. But if we delay this, the Emperor won't be happy. He'll punish both of us." He said, the smirk bled from his features and replaced with a serious frown.
"What can he take from me that I haven't already lost?" Deidra barked, suddenly overcome with emotion.
He looked down at her with a trace of concern. "You would be surprised how cruel he can be." He answered back, his eyes searing into hers.
"I think i'll take my chances." Deidra spat back instantly.
His gaze intensified as the air between them became charged, thrumming with electricity. Her skin felt sensitive, her face flush. She felt warmth flood her body, opening up places inside she rarely felt so alive. A flash of sensuous suggestions and images flooded her mind. She found herself holding onto a breath, her body building up tension in every fiber of her being.
He reached out, placing delicate fingertips on her jawline, trailing down her neck softly, slowly. Deidra swore she could feel her pupils dilate, feel her sharp inhalation at the contact. What was it that was coming over her- why didn't she cringe as he continued, brushing the edge of her collar bone with deft skill? He was just a man. But no, no he wasn't. He was Darth Vader, a mythic entity of unknown power and prowess. Unmatched in strategy and lethality.
And he was trailing his feather light touches down, teasing her breast, her stomach, before his hand took hold at her hip. "I'm quite generous, if you let me be." He said softly, in a voice she hadn't heard him use before. The way the syllables fell from his lips made her shudder as her focus honed with hypnotic suggestibility. She felt her energy draw to him, felt an animal urge for him, for the body that lie beneath his thin sleep clothes.
She had never known anyone in such a way before. As badly as her body wanted to learn what it was to feel intimately with another, she didn't. She didn't want this, it made no sense. She was a pawn, nothing but an empty womb for him to fill with seed. Any feigned intimacy was all for show. It was out of character for her to be so passionately disposed. Never had she been so on the edge of losing control. She felt herself fight it, every moment desperately clinging to what she knew to be true within herself.
"Stop that," she said, her voice wavering with effort. With a surprised look Vader pulled away just as quickly as she spoke.
"My apologies," He said, his brows furrowing with an aftershock of confusion as he surveyed her with curiosity.
Quickly after she felt the intensity of arousal lessen and her body relax as if she had just surmounted some sort of challenge. Though the lingering want that ached inside her belly became a nuisance.
"I'm sure you need your rest, after everything. Your recovery was unexpectedly quick. Perhaps you're not fully well, yet." Vader said returning to his usual flat voice and expression.
So her suspicions were founded. But that was hardly the reason she didn't want him to touch her. "Yes, i'm tired. But i'm still going to feel the same about you, tomorrow." She said irritably.
"We'll see. Sleep well, Deidra." He said, bowing his head slightly. His lips shaping around the letters of her name, trance like and gratifying in ways she didn't understand. She thought she saw another small smirk on his lips as he turned and closed the door behind her, leaving the room feeling strangely empty.
With a huff she went to lock her door and promptly crashed face down against the freshly laundered sheets of her sleeper. Images of Vader ran through her mind. The things she had expected him to be, she wasn't sure what they had been. Certainly nothing like this. He was so sure of himself, so demanding. Manipulative.
Her stomach turned as she thought of feeling a want for him at all. Though only moments ago she fought against it, nearly to the point of breaking. He had touched her in ways she had never allowed anyone. She didn't swat his hand away, or spout an unending speil of insults and curses. She fought herself to not give in, it was all she could do. How could she explain it?
It wasn't her. It must have been another one of his Jedi tricks. As easily as he could suspend her in midair, he could twist and pervert her wants and desires. The thought made her stomach sick and her spine cringe and shudder. Her parents were right, criminals, the lot of them. She thought they had all been put out of existence at the end of the Clone Wars, but clearly Vader shared in some Jedi talents at the very least.
It infuriated her, how her belly still ached. He stirred things inside of her that relentlessly went on wanting in his absence. She felt swollen and hot between her slicked lips. Her nipples were full and hard, pressing against the cool silken fabric of her chemise. The sensations were overwhelming, frustrating. How long had it been since she had given herself such intimate attention? She couldn't remember. But she couldn't like this, not when he had made her feel this way.
But like drink that would fill her veins, like pills to dull her senses, her body complained against her stubborn will. Did she have to have an excuse? The chemical chain of reactions that unlocked her inhibitions, that drew her focus to the physical realm of skin and bone and blood created a pleasurable suggestion. A want that caused her to press her hips against the mattress, creating wet friction between her hardened clit and her panties as she shifted her weight. A shockwave of sensation jolted through her body, encouraging her to allow herself the moment, to let go of everything and just feel.
It didn't matter who started this, it wasn't about him, or how he touched her. It was the raw bliss she felt as she reached down, putting two fingers between her lips, finding the hard bead that sent bursts of delicious orgasmic pleasure through her body when she rubbed against it. There was nothing, nothing else other than the rhythm of her hips grinding against her fingers, sliding over that sweet spot.
Brighter, better, faster, harder, she grinded her hips, moving her body over her fingers. Every muscle tensed as she felt the tingling pleasure spread between her thighs, dancing through her nerve endings sweetly. Soft grunts grew into louder, shameless staccato punctuations noting every thrust of her hips.
But something deep inside her pulsed and ached still. Spreading herself and pressing two fingers inside she chased after it, quickly finding a new, untapped well of pleasure that made her body feel weak. She began to fuck herself slowly on her fingers, feeling the imminent rise of orgasm grow in her belly. She felt herself clamp down tighter as she rubbed the spot deep inside herself firmly, methodically.
Climax struck her body violently, taking the air from her lungs and every thought from her mind as her body trembled with release. With a sigh she let her body go limp on the sleeper, the contours of her curves sinking into the plush mattress. For once her mind was empty of all things good and bad as her body hummed with satisfaction.
Though the feeling was short lived, as she heard a shuffle of feet outside her door. The light from the hall cast the silhouette through the gap under her door as they trod lightly towards the staircase. Deidra's skin crawled as her stomach sank. Who would creep outside her door to spy on her? She had counted on a measure of privacy. She had been wrong to assume she would be given any at all. Was it Vader? Was he really so desperate?
Her blood boiled, but she was too afraid to venture out to see who it may have been. And by now, they would have been long gone.
In the next heartbeat a deafening blast filled the air, followed by a low grade rumbling and blaring sirens that accompanied it.
Deidra rushed out to her veranda to see a plume of ash and smoke rising from the Imperial Palace. Already the smell of char and sulfur polluted the air. It was a sick aroma she was too familiar with. Her heart slammed in her chest as her body trembled uncontrollably as if she were cold. But the night air was warm, humid and uncomfortable.
Down below she could see the landing pad lit up under the tower's flood lights. A figure clad in black, donning a black cloak kicked a lone speeder bike to life, quickly mounting it and rushing towards the blast in the distance. She could feel the essence of him, the Dark Lord rushing to his Emperor's aid.
A sturdy knock at her door sent a startled jolt through her frame. "Milady!" A maidservant called out frantically. Deidra shakily sprinted to her bedroom door, turning the lock and throwing it open. "Emergency procedures Milady, follow me." She said with an edge of fear.
"Where are we going?" Deidra asked, her whole body tensing as another blast sounded out. She looked back to see a ball of fire rise up in the sky, brilliant in color, making the whole of Coruscant look dull in comparison.
The woman tugged on her arm. "A safe room near by. Hurry!" She said shouting above the sirens that blared louder still.
Deidra ran quickly behind the woman, letting herself be pulled towards safety. Her mind raced, plunging her back into the past, into one of the worst moments of her life.
"Deidra, go fetch another pitcher of water for us, won't you?" Her mother said, smiling, the sun reflecting kindly in her weathered blue eyes.
"I'm on it," Dedira said, rising up from the bench her family congregated at in the center of the food court at the central market.
Her younger siblings chattered and fought amongst themselves, but quickly buttoned it for the moment after a chastisement from their father. He was home for the weekend- two days home, no work. Life had been good ever since he switched to civilian transport from his cargo hauling days. He was happier, and everyone else had been for it, too. Not that he had ever been cruel, but now he was present with them, not just merely existing, as her mother would say.
Deidra walked over to the water station at the edge of the food court, pulling the tab on the spout and placing the jug under the small trickling stream of cold water. The barrel was running near empty and took longer to dispense than it might have otherwise. She looked out at the crowd in her spare moments, seeing the culture of her home fill the streets. Vendors with their wares out on display, exotic and local foods for sale in carts and stands all around. People were happy, even if under guard.
The tin soldiers, droids, stood sentry guard at corners, a few walked the isles in their mechanical strides. It had been that way ever since the Clone Wars had began, but it did little to erode the richness and vibrance of the city and its people. Everyone from merchants to children, were smiling, as her eyes trailed over the crowd.
Everyone except for one man. His wide blue eyes darted about with a look of distress. His brow was furrowed intensely, his auburn hair falling just above his lashes. He swept over the crowd like he was searching for something, someone. Something about him sent a pang of anxiety through her core. Her stomach turned into a pit, feeling something horrible fall over her senses. She had felt this same thing before. Just a panic attack, her mother would say, but he had never been so sure.
It wasn't something inside of herself, it was outside. Just like she could feel the emotions of others, feel the air of a crowd, how each person gave a note, a chord. In it, the market would be a symphony of emotion, elation and heartbreak. All of it beautiful, which is why she loved it so much. But sometimes that melody could turn dark, scary even. And this one man, with what might have been one note in a crowd of other harmonious tunes, flooded her mind with his fear, his anxiety.
But was it his? Or were they both feeling the same catastrophic energy that seemed to overwrite every good and happy note of all the others who continued to go about their business as if all was well? Suddenly, as if he could hear her question, her confusion, he turned to face her, his eyes locking onto hers.
She felt him draw to her, their energies connecting like twin lightning bolts intertwining, colliding in a storm. He pivoted on his feet, breaking out into a sprint towards her. She didn't flinch. She felt a calm descend over her, like everything was going to be alright, even if it wasn't.
His body met with hers and he spun, holding his arms out defensively only a moment before a flash of bright white, devastating light seared across her vision. In the violence she didn't hear a sound aside from the ringing in her ears, the deafening effect of a blast that had hit at the very center of the market. Their bodies had been thrown, strewn a few meters from where they had stood.
Something hurt terribly in her leg and her back. She felt a warm trickle fall down the side of her face. Blood, she felt as she moved one trembling hand up to feel the wet matted hair at the site of her injury.
The man that she thought she had seen, had vanished. Perhaps dead, lost among the bodies blown apart all over the market. She struggled to gain footing Where her family had been, nothing left but blood and viscera and shattered structures that had been blasted to bits.
She couldn't hear anything. Not the scream that ripped from her chapped bloody lips, not the sobbs that racked her shoulders as she looked around in horror at the sea of dead around her.
"It's going to be alright, Milady, nothing can get to us in here." The maidservant said reassuringly as she sealed the metal door tightly, wrenching the mechanism closed. An independant lighting system hummed to life as they retreated further into the space. Inside were two crash couches, a small table welded to the floor, and a hard wired com unit. The woman opened a cabinet, pulling the magnetic snap free, withdrawing a blanket and bottle of water.
"Here, rest and it will all be over before you know it. You can close your eyes, i'll stay up and wait for the all clear." The woman said, looking at Deidra's teary face with concern.
With a shaky hand Deidara accepted the blanket, wrapping it around herself and collapsing down onto the couch. She closed her eyes against the steady flow of tears and breathed.
And waited.