Padmé Amidala was excited. It was the day after her election and they were due for a meeting with the mysterious young man who had come from the stasis chamber that had been discovered by the scientist Damien Var. Technically it was discovered by two Naboo children but they didn't have their names listed here. Padmé was so excited by this discovery that she had forgone the usual bodyguard and stand in. She knew practically nothing about the man who was joining them. They knew his name was Travien Shan but it hadn't come up on any registers that she knew of. Padmé was pulled from her thoughts when a secretary entered,

"He's here your majesty."

Padmé nodded and collected herself, "Send him in."

The secretary left and was almost immediately replaced by a handsome looking seventeen year old man dressed in what was clearly black armour, carrying a lightsaber at his side with black hair and pure white eyes. She stifled a gasp when she realised he was blind and was outraged that none of her people were helping him, although the trunk floating behind him looked somewhat out of place. She got up immediately but was beaten to the punch,

The man in front of her bowed, "Your Majesty Queen Amidala, I thank you for taking the time to see me. My name is Travien Shan. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Padmé smiled graciously, "Thank you Mr. Shan." She was unsure why, but Padmé was certain that he twitched a she said his name. "Please, have a seat."

Travien sat down in front of her, remaining outwardly relaxed and carefree. Inwardly he was panicking, something was very wrong here. Why the hell had he outwardly twitched at the title of mister. He should be beyond such things. This girl was dangerous.

Padmé smiled at him, "Tell us about yourself, Mr. Shan."

Travien looked around and saw the guards standing around the room. He looked to the young Queen, "May I ask a favour, your majesty?" She tipped her head curiously, "Could we have this discussion in private. My past is not glamorous and I am reluctant to share it with many. Your handmaidens are more than welcome to remain, but I would feel better if the guards left. At your discretion of course, milady." He bowed his head, showing that he acquiesced to whatever her decision would be.

Padmé thought carefully for a moment and nodded to the guards. One stepped forward to protest, "Your majesty, please. What of your protection?!"

Travien interrupted, "Unless six different members of the Jedi High Council suddenly decide that her majesty needs to die…all at once…then she is safe with me. The lightsaber I carry is not a decoration." The man looked appraisingly at Travien,

"Forgive me for being rude, but what defence can a blind man be?" For some reason he just didn't trust this man. He was entirely too calm.

Padmé jumped up at that, "Captain! Please vacate the room immediately. I will not tolerate such rudeness towards our guest."

The guard who was apparently a captain walked out of the room, his soldiers following behind him. Padmé turned to Travien,

"I apologise for that outburst, I am so sorry." She began,

Travien waved it off, "Not at all. I'm glad to see that he doesn't let manners get in the way of doing his job. My guard captain certainly didn't." He smiled slightly, "I was about to tell him that my personal record was only five Jedi Masters at any one time. That was why six was a threat."

Padmé's head suddenly snapped up at that statement. She could see the amused, predatory grin on his face and became very nervous. Why would this man have cause to kill Jedi?

Travien turned to the window, "I was one of the first to colonise this world did you know that? I built a house in what your royal guard tell me is the Lake Country. I hear it belongs to a family by the name of Naberrie now." He nodded, "The guards tell me they're a good family. I'm glad that a decent person got the house." He turned around to Padmé, "You're very dangerous to me your majesty. I don't know why, but I cannot lie to you. Something in the Force, and in your sensitivity to it, almost outright prevents me from doing so."

Padmé backed away from him slowly, "What do you intend to do about that danger?" she was aware that neither her nor her handmaidens were a match for a trained Jedi, Light or Dark.

"Why I am going to do exactly what you asked. I am going to tell you my life story. Have a seat your majesty, I was very serious when I said I was no threat to you. It is very unlikely that there is a threat to you here, Padmé Amidala Naberrie."

Her head shot back to him, as her eyes had drifted to her handmaidens, at the sound of her full name. How the hell could he have known that?! She had no idea that he had reached into the minds of her handmaidens when he walked into the room and had been doing so with most of her guards to find out who he was dealing with.

Travien sat back down in his chair, in front of Padmé's desk, and smiled "Oh this is new. I'm not used to being on the other side of the desk. Allow me to introduce myself, but please, you might want to sit down." Padmé and her handmaidens sat down slowly and warily,

"Who are you then, really? Is Travien your real name?"

He nodded, "Oh yes. I am Darth Travien, only son of Lord Darth Revan Shan and his queen Lady Darth Bastila Shan of the Sith Empire, my father took my mother's name. He was mind wiped by the Jedi you see and nobody knew his surname after the Council deleted all of his records. Upon their deaths, which were not my fault I might add, I ascended to the Sith throne. Yes, your majesty, your nightmares are nowhere near as bad as things can get, you are sitting opposite a Dark Lord of the Sith, given the amount of time that has apparently passed, and I'm still not sure how much that is, there is probably another by now. I will deal with him soon enough though."

Padmé gulped and started shaking. There was a Sith Lord on Naboo. There was a Sith Lord in her office. A Sith Lord that had been released from what was likely his imprisonment by her order. What had she unleashed on the galaxy?! She attempted to collect herself,

"W…What do you want with Naboo?" she stuttered,

Travien shrugged, "To live here, nothing more. Your reaction tells me that the Sith are remembered, if only just. I would like to resurrect my Order and my Empire, but I don't see that happening any time soon. In lieu of that I intend to find work, something to do."

Padmé was stunned, "You want to find work?! But, you're a Sith!"

Travien laughed and far from the mad cackling she had expected it was a soft sound. It was calm and truly happy, "Oh my. Thank you for that. I see the Jedi have been telling tales of marauding rapists with no value for life or dignity. I assume we are creatures of absolute disgust that kill to slake our own hideous lusts?" Padmé nodded dumbly.

Travien shrugged, "I'll grant you, there are some like that. Some are exactly what you believe. I am told that Malak was that kind of Sith. The rest of us are…well…we are people who believe we could do a better job. I admit I would like to slake my lusts but they are no more hideous than any other seventeen year old and I have impressive control, although we are a great deal less humanitarian than you. Mostly we believe that we could run the galaxy better than the Republic. As of this moment, that belief isn't highly relevant, is it? In order to conquer the Republic I would need an army, I am unfortunately one army short of actually having an army. For now I would like to teach people to use the Force, those who will not, or cannot, learn from the Jedi."

Padmé just looked at Travien in surprise, "What do you mean, will not or cannot?"

"Simple. There are three Force-sensitive's in this room that cannot learn from the Jedi, you are too old and they would not teach you. I would be happy to."

Padmé looked at him sceptically, "Who and what would you teach? I have no intention of Naboo being the staging ground for your new Empire!"

Travien sighed, "Firstly, yourself and two of your handmaidens are Force sensitive, I will teach you whatever you wish to know. I was schooled in both Light and Dark arts when I was younger as well as having mastered at least four of the seven lightsaber forms. As to your last point, I am not currently planning my own Empire. I explained this poorly before. There is something about the Force that is drawing me to you. If you truly, deep in your heart, do not want an Empire, then I cannot build one. Whatever this is then it works against me. You are a democrat who believes in individual rights, correct?" Padmé nodded slowly, "I am a Sith Lord who is unable to turn this galaxy into something you abhor. Now, you wished to know my life story, correct?"

Padmé nodded, "Yes. I have some questions for you later, but I have a feeling that this will be very interesting."

Travien nodded and smiled slightly, "I hope so. I was born almost a year after the Jedi Civil War." He was interrupted by one of the handmaidens,

"Wait, you're the son of that Darth Revan?!"

Travien raised an eyebrow, "There were others?"

The handmaiden nodded, "Yes. Several copycat Sith were trying to use your father's name and reputation to bolster their own, few of them actually amounted to anything. Most people don't know about the Jedi Civil War, only the really avid history students."

Travien sighed, "Oh well. Little I can do about it now. Anyway, after the Civil War my parents withdrew most of their forces from the Republic, it was collapsing in on itself and they saw the wisdom in waiting. We were waiting longer than they had anticipated as several attempts were made, which were successful, to breath some life back into the Republic. After fifteen years it became apparent that the Republic would survive and my parents began preparing for another war. In the process of mustering their armies they were betrayed and murdered, blown apart as their shuttle left the hangar bay of the ship of a traitorous admiral who had learned to shield his thoughts."

Travien sighed, "I was only fourteen years old but I immediately took control of the Empire. I moved to eliminate the admiral but I failed to anticipate just how far the betrayal went. Soon the Empire was divided in a Civil War of its own. I succeeded in winning the war after two years but it was a Pyrrhic victory. I had only a single vessel left and that was crewed by droids. The last battle had been epic. The leaders of all of the different factions saw the end coming, including myself and decided to go out with a bang. Ten thousand ships gathered outside the Republic in a battle that lasted nearly five days."

The others looked at him with unreadable expressions, so he continued, "I returned to the Star Forge and began working on the stasis chamber. It took me about six months to build it and place it in that cave. I was almost ready to begin starting again, but had to put my affairs in order. In the meantime I built the Lake House as something to keep me occupied. I always imagined that it would be what my mother grew up in on Talravin. The day after my seventeenth birthday I placed myself in stasis to wait for a new galaxy, one that was healed of the Sith Civil War and the Jedi Civil War." He grinned wryly, "Who knows, I might yet get a chance to try again. Nevertheless, my training increased during my brief rule with the Holocrons my parents left me. I quickly mastered the Forms of Ataru, Juyo, Djem So and Makashi. My Soresu and Niman leave some to be desired but they are passable."

The girls sat there for a second and processed all of this. Padmé was especially curious about this man who had apparently built the house she had grown up in. Mostly she was curious about how he felt drawn to her. He may have reprehensible morals and be against everything she believed in but he seemed friendly and he wasn't the monster she had learned about,

"Why do you feel drawn to me?" she asked,

Travien stood up and walked back over to the window, "Good question. I don't know. I have no idea who you really are. I know that you are popular among these people, from what I heard on the way here, and from conversations I accidentally overheard, you're a good person and well loved by these people. Probably be a better ruler than I ever was. The irony is that we took power at the same age and seem to be complete opposites." He sighed, "The Force draws me to you. I don't know you, but I want to. For the first time in my life I want something I can't just take and I seem to relish that fact."

The handmaidens were stunned but smirking slightly. They could recognise the signs of what was happening and didn't believe it to be the Force for a minute, a Dark Lord of the Sith was falling for their Queen. Ha, he was falling again. What they didn't know was that Travien had picked up on their thoughts and privately agreed with them. While he would find lying to this girl uncomfortable, the Force did not have such a hold on him as this. He simply refused to admit it.

Hah, just as mother conformed to father's beliefs so I shall likely conform to hers.

Padmé looked at him carefully, "I don't think you're being entirely honest with me, but I'll let that go for now. It isn't unknown for monarchs to have personal bodyguards other than the palace guards and handmaidens and I would like to keep an eye on you, I cannot just let a Sith Lord run around Naboo, but how do I know I can trust you?"

Travien shrugged, "You can't. Likewise, how can I trust you? If anything I have told you manages to reach the ears of the Jedi Council then I'm a dead man. They will kill me without hesitation. My life is now yours to do with as you will."

Padmé sat back in her chair pensively, "If I do hire you, will you accede to the standards expected of you?"

"How so?" asked Travien

"There are codes of conduct and social requirements to be met. I am a Queen, what you do will reflect upon me."

Travien nodded slowly, "On one condition." Padmé raised an eyebrow, "While I would not begin to expect this from you or the handmaidens I am the Lord of the Star Forge. I would prefer to be introduced as such. I am expected to follow rules that are alien to me after all."

Padmé was about to agree when the handmaiden from earlier, who she recognised as Eirtaé, interrupted again, "Do you mean that the Star Forge still exists?!"

Travien nodded, "Indeed. Once I have accounted for stellar drift and galactic movement I shall know exactly where it is. It survived twenty five thousand years before father found it. I expect it is still around now."

The handmaiden sounded numb, "It's been just under four thousand years since you entered stasis, by the way."

Travien nodded his thanks and turned to Padmé. She looked at him carefully and spoke slowly, considering each word, "Will you require an advance on your salary, Lord Shan?" Travien used the Force to open the trunk he had brought with him,

"Your offer is generous, My Lady, and greatly appreciated, but unnecessary. As you can see there is more than enough there for me to get by on. There are approximately ten million credits in there. Will that be enough to purchase a place to live do you think?"

The women looked at him amazed. Padmé was the first to speak up after a lengthy silence.

"You won't need to. As my personal bodyguard you will be residing in the palace. When you are on holidays or something I will talk to my parents, I see no reason why you cannot stay in the Lake House that you built."

Travien bowed, "You are most generous milady."

Padmé smiled at him, "I do have a question or two. I hope I don't offend you but I have to ask." Travien smiled slightly and nodded his assent, "Well firstly, how did you lose your sight?"

He shrugged, "One of the down sides to using the Dark Side heavily, when you are not designed to, is that offspring occasionally end up having deformities or defects that cannot be repaired even if they are found quickly. I was born blind but I have the Force to make up for that. It's also why I have never fully devoted myself to the Dark Side of the Force. I was lucky, blindness can be turned into strength, there are stories of some born without particular limbs that are…disposed of. I was fortunate in my parents."

Padmé looked at him in sympathy and Travien laughed, "Don't take it too hard your majesty. Other people have eyes so I can use theirs if I need to."

Padmé nodded, happy that he didn't miss out on things, "My next question was how do you see but you use other people's eyes, don't you?"

Travien shook his head, "Not usually. I tend not to do that because I would grow dependant on it, then get surrounded by droids which is just my luck. The Force connects all things, your majesty. That connection means that I can see anything connected to the Force. You, your handmaidens, even the laser ball you have hidden in the desk drawers, alongside the…well…I shan't mention that."

Padmé blushed heavily, "Does that mean you can see through clothes, as well?"

Travien nodded, smirking, "I can but I don't often. It isn't so bad but if you're in a crowded area looking through someone's underwear and then this fat hairy guy stands in your way and not only do you see through his clothes but you find out he's wearing suspenders and a garter belt as well." Travien shuddered as the girls giggled, "Besides, it reduces my all round awareness." He finished smartly.

Padmé nodded, "Alright. I'll clear it with my council and you will be my personal bodyguard. So long as you tell us what we're doing, I would like to learn how to use the Force as well."

Travien grinned happily, "It will be my pleasure milady."