This is a work of fiction. I don't own Star Wars or any of its characters. All Original Characters are the product of my imagination and are used in a fictitious manner. This is purely fanfiction to be read at the readers own discretion and pleasure.

Disclaimer: Viewing discretion is advised as this work will contain mentions of slavery, violence and character death.

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The Beginning

By the time morning came, Alia had long since fallen asleep by the window.

"Alia. You have to wake up now. Master Siphe wishes to see you." The words were from another courtesan, one who had been tasked to wake the young girl in order for her to complete the transition from domestic slave to, well, a prostitute. Courtesan was used just to make it seem nicer. The woman who woke Alia shot her a look of pity, there was nothing she could do about it that would get her punished or executed.

Alia could only nod at her summons, the words like cold water waking her up. She simply got up, walked over to change out of her nightgown and into a simple black shift that had been laid out for her. It was rare that they received clothing, the domestic workers anyway. Normally they had only one set of nightclothes and one, maybe two, pairs daytime work clothes. They lasted until they could be used no longer. Clothes were often threadbare with rips and holes in the fabric, sometimes even too short or too tight because they had been grown out of.

The courtesans were a little different, while they were still slaves, the master made sure they ate enough to maintain their beauty and gave them pretty clothing that would accentuate the right things. Though they only had few dresses at any point in time, but when theirs got old or they outgrew them they were replaced immediately. Those dresses were often passed down to domestic workers if they were in disrepair, or down to younger, smaller courtesans if they were still in good repair.

Binah, the older courtesan who had come to collect her stood by the door, her eyes still gazing at Alia with a deep sorrow hidden in their depths. She wasn't much older than Alia, 18 at the most, and she was beautiful like many of the other girls. Her ebony skin was flawless and glowed in the light from the window, adding to the warmth she always seemed to radiate even though the reality was far worse.

"Come little one. We mustn't keep Master Siphe waiting." Her voice was warm too. She gave Alia a small, sad smile, holding out her hand for Alia to take it.

The pair walked through the back corridors of the bordello, hidden away from clients and other unwanted eyes. Another courtesan had once told her that it was all a show and that everything must be perfect, even if it meant to be unseen most of the time. Though Alia always thought that she found more beauty in these corridors because they had the soft daytime lighting and were always relatively quiet in comparison to the corridors the clients used. While those had the same daytime lighting, it seemed to reek of chaos and unpleasantness. At least to Alia it did.

When the pair reached the end of the corridor, at the large imposing wooden doors, Binah looked down at her and squeezed her hand as a last comfort.

"I'm sorry little one. I'm truly sorry."

Alia understood what she meant. The words were supposed to provide comfort Alia supposed, but they only brought that sense of doom she had felt last night closer.

"I'm sorry too."

With their last spoken words, Binah knocked sharply on the wood twice. Dropping Alia's hand in the process. Then they waited for the doors to open.

When the doors did finally open, they did so with a slight creak and groan. They opened slowly like they were too heavy for whomever or whatever was opening them. Binah nudged Alia inside as they opened, but made no further move to go inside herself. This part was completely up to Alia alone. There was no one to help her from now. She was alone.

The room itself seemed dark, there was little lighting, only the glow from a single lamp. It seemed questionably void, which only caused a deep pit to form in Alia's stomach. It was near silent and that silence rung in her ears, the only sounds she could hear creeping up was that of her own heart. Her breathing stuttered like she was forgetting to breathe, but she kept slowly inching her way into the room. And as soon as she was far enough in, the doors slammed shut behind her, locking her in this room at her master's request. The slam was loud enough to startle Alia, causing her to freeze. It was dark and she really didn't know what she needed to do.

But the silence was only for a second, a single moment in time that seemed to drag on. It was broken at the sound of another door opening from the side, the lights flicking on illuminating the room. In stepped a tall, dark-haired man whose face said nothing, but instead, let his very presence do the talking. He was by far the most intimidating person she had ever met, it made her almost curl into herself.

No one had to introduce him though. Alia knew who he was, though she was unsure whether or not he knew who she was other than another slave he had bought. Alia's breath hitched a little when he glanced at her. His eyes narrowed a little at the sight of her before he glanced away to take a seat on one of the plush, velvet lounges that surrounded the glossy black wood coffee table. She hadn't noticed it before, the room had been too dark, and when the lights had been finally turned on the only thing she could focus on was the man who had walked in. The very same person who could have her punished, sold or killed if he so wished.

He hummed but made no motion for her to sit and inside chose to lounge on the chair and stare her down. Alia's heart rate jumped, pulsing rapidly in her chest as he stared at her, head ducking down in submission. Fear of what was going to happen, what could happen flooded her mind. A thousand different situations coming to mind. A thousand ways that, for her, could end up resulting in pain.

"I remember buying you." Master Siphe's voice was soft but had a rasp to it that made Alia's ears hurt a little. "You were such a little thing, you still are. But you were very pretty, very promising. Your eyes were caught my attention. Never had I ever seen a color quite as beautiful as yours in my entire life. That's what sold me. From the moment I saw how captivating your eyes were I knew you'd be very valuable. Some of my wealthiest clients like eye to eye contact." He paused, his gaze not moving from her.

Master Siphe didn't speak for a long time. The pause in itself was nerve-wracking and Alia had to clasp her hands together tightly to prevent her hands from shaking a little bit. Never had she wished she was scrubbing laundry so hard her hands were going raw, and she prayed for that pain in favor of this torment.

"You know why I brought you here? No, of course not. Typically we bid the right to 'break you in', deflower you or what have you, to the highest bidder. People pay thousands, even millions of credits for the right girl. But you, you've grown to be very beautiful. More beautiful than I had imagined. I'll be breaking you in myself." He stated it plainly, eyes finally leaving Alia and turning away to study something on the wall of to the side.

Alia didn't know whether or not he wanted her to say something, or whether she needed to remain quiet. But the revelation that her doom was in the form of her master himself. That only caused a rise of internal panic. Her palms sweated, breath hitched and she thought at the rate her heart was beating it would pop out of her chest. Alia's eyes looked up and took in the room, searching for an escape even though she knew it was useless. Her head would be blown up the minute they couldn't catch her, or there would be a sinister punishment awaiting her if caught.

"But I have a good friend who wishes to meet you. He's willing to pay good money to see you after I'm done." Laveve snorted to himself, getting up from his seat. "Stay here girl. I will bring him in to see you and then I will have you. Behave or else." His voice was perfectly calm, but the threat was clear, and with that, he stepped out of the room.

Alia let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, but even as she gasped for air it seemed that her body was unable to breathe properly anymore. Her chest constricted and stomach churned. Everything felt wrong and she felt like she was on the verge of a breakdown. But she couldn't cry, she was just frozen, unable to move or seemingly function anymore.

Her panic was only heightened when the door opened up again and another man entered. This man was older, hair greying with the barest hint of the original reddish color it had been once upon a time. He looked at her with a deep stare and Alia felt like he could see her soul.

"Don't panic little one. I'm only here to talk." He spoke, sitting down on the same lounge her master had vacated. "Sit. I won't punish you."

Alia nodded and gingerly moved to sit on the other corner of the lounge he was on. She didn't say anything, she wasn't sure what he would do and she wasn't sure if she could. She just needed to behave, be respectful and hope she wasn't punished.

"I am Sheev Palpatine. I have been watching your progress for a while now little one." He introduced himself, "you can speak freely, you won't be punished. You're very special." Sheev told her, showing her a kind smile to try and win her trust.

"Thank you sir, but I'm not special. I'm just a slave." Alia shook off his claims. Being special wasn't good, but being mediocre wasn't any better. He just flashed her another smile at her words, gesturing her to sit closer.

"You may not know it, but you are very special." He assured her, clasping his hands together and turning to look towards the door. "He bought you when you were very young, took you away from your family yes?" Sheev questioned her, his eyes glancing back down at her.

"Yes. From my mother and twin."

"You must have been very sad. Angry even... Shame the Jedi turn a blind eye to slaves in the outer rim," His eyes were sad as he looked down at her, his hand nearly coming to rest on her shoulder but stopping to hover as Alia's body froze, "they could've saved you if you were younger."

"Younger?" Alia questioned quietly, she had only heard faint whisperings about the Jedi. They were just stories here. They had no control on Dandoran, Hutt Space was notoriously dangerous and it was no secret that the Hutts held no love for the Jedi.

"The Jedi Order only takes young children, babies. You're too old for them to take you in. You would have nowhere to go and nonetheless, the Jedi prefer to stay away from Hutt Space." Palpatine looked down at her, eyes sympathetic to her plight. His kind smiles and clear sympathy comforted her a little because she was slowly relaxing and opening up to the Chancellor.

"Why only babies? Why do they take them?" Alia asked him, curious to hear more about the Order that had only been whispered stories to her.

"Because then they know nothing else. No other life, no attachments. Jedi don't allow emotions and by taking them at such a young age they can be bound to the Order their entire lives because they know nothing else." He informed her.

"So even if I was young enough. I'd never be free if they took me away from here?" Alia spoke again, her eyes wide and sad, watery even.

"No my child. You wouldn't be free." He confirmed, finally placing a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "The only people I know to be truly free are the Sith. But many call them evil for wanting power and knowledge, but I don't believe they are evil. They only use their power to become strong, to free themselves and stay free. Though the Jedi say otherwise." Sheev continued, shrugging the idea away as an impossibility.

While it was unspoken, Palpatine understood Alia's the silent longing for freedom. For power to free oneself. How he knew that with the right words he could help Alia free herself. Neither spoke again and the room lapsed into a thoughtful silence.

That silence though was broken by a solitary knock. The meeting was over and the relative comfort that Alia had felt in the Chancellor's presence was gone in an instant. Alia scrambled to her feet, backing away from the lounge, eyes growing wide as she looked towards the door. If she had been caught on the lounges... She didn't even want to imagine consequences.

"Perhaps we'll see each other soon young one. Be strong." Palpatine bid Alia goodbye, before answering the knock on the door exchanging few words with Siphe before exiting.

Now it was just Alia and her master left, and all she could feel was her own rising panic to the events that were to come. She wished someone, anyone, would come and save her.

Master Siphe didn't say anything, just gave her a wicked smile that stretched across his face. His eyes narrowed and he slowly moved across the room to where Alia stood paralyzed in fear. She couldn't hear much at all, nothing was loud enough to compete with her heart or the throbbing in her ears. Her entire chest compressed, all but pushing the air out of her lungs causing to have to fight for every breath.

As he moved closer, his mouth moved, said something that she couldn't quite hear, but it was enough for her body to unfreeze and slowly take steps backward away from the slave owner that stalked closer.

"It doesn't matter if you try to escape. I'll get you eventually."

Alia was cornered when her legs hit the bed that was in the room, hands clenching beside her. Siphe continued to stalk closer, hands out to clamp down on her arms to prevent escape. Alia wanted to plead, beg him to let her go. But all she could do was squeeze her eyes shut, muttering her objection to him. She was surrounded by her fear, there was no escape.

And when he clasped her arms, squeezing on them tightly, too hard that they would bruise. She tried to thrash, break his grip. But she couldn't. Then she screamed.

Her eyes were shut, but she felt his hands rip off her arms and heard rattling, crashing and the thump of something hit the wall. That caused her eyes to snap open, taking in the sight of her master lying slumped down against the wall, but only for a brief second before she noticed the trail of crimson that started from the light on the wall above him. Its metal coated in red.

Most people would be horrified. Crying or frightened. But Alia felt nothing. Her entire body was thrumming with energy. It was like a weight had been lifted off her chest as she rose and gingerly moved towards the slumped body of Siphe. For the first time in her life, she felt strong, in control.

But she stopped, froze when the door opened and Palpatine stepped in. He took in the sight of the room, but his eyes stopped on Alia. He was calm, proud even. His entire presence had changed in the time he had gone, he was stronger, seemed more powerful. He moved towards her, putting a hand on her shoulder and smiled.

"Special indeed. You have freed yourself little one. Will you remain free? Will you free the others?" He asked her, eyes looking deeply into her own. It dawned on her then, the Sith he had spoken about earlier. He was one of them.

Alia didn't hesitate. Not when she could feel the power at her fingertips. She understood that she had killed her former master, but it didn't bother her because she was finally free.

"Yes."