LEILA
After a few hours of celebration, the party, organized by Lady Lana for Lord Kallig, has ended and his group, Leila included, returned to Second Fury to plan their next steps. Or at least that was the original plan.
Despite the fact that the party they had just attended signified the official creation of her lord's faction, thus was a huge success for everyone involved, the mood in the ship was quite gloomy. Lady Beniko was currently sitting on of the chairs, pointedly ignoring Lord Kallig, who was on his knees, begging her to forgive him. Satine locked herself in her room, apparently very unhappy about something that happened during the party. Leila suspected it had something to do with the commotion caused by her lord during his conversation with Bo-Katan. Sacred beast and Maul were currently sleeping in their rooms, blackout drunk after the party (something that was becoming depressingly common lately). The only member of the ship that was in his usual mood was Grievous, but given his homicidal tendencies Leila wasn't sure it was a good thing.
Truthfully Leila wasn't sure what to do about the situation at all, as she didn't really have a lot of experience dealing with such an individualistic group. She was a shepherd at Nar Shaddaa, but her flock was always quite collectivistic, with most problems among members dealt with, before it would even come to her attention.
Her lord however wasn't a person, who would be satisfied with ordinary subordinates. No, he recruited only the best of the best, which meant that most of the people had very dominant personalities. It would be easier to just her lord use his infinite wisdom to deal with these problems, but as his lowly servant it was her duty to help him however she could. That was why she would at least try to help, no matter how insignificant her help would turn out to be.
"My Lord, Lady Beniko" She said, approaching the divine couple. Despite just taking a huge step towards the holy matrimony, the divine couple looked quite miserable, with Lady Lana being irritated and Lord Kallig saddened. She would do her best to change that. They both looked at her, momentarily forgetting about their conflict. Leila shook, as she became the center of attention of two divine beings, but she pressed on, knowing it was her holy duty to aid her lord "I am just a lowly servant, surely overstepping her bounds, but could I be of assistance in resolving this conflict in any way?"
"Thank you for trying to help Leila, but it won't be necessary. We are all adults here, despite my dear fiance's usual behaviour, so we can deal with this on our…" Lady Beniko started speaking, with full intention of rejecting Leila's proposition on the spot, but before she was able to finish her sentence, she was interrupted by Lord Kallig, who was currently looking at Leila with gratitude, gaze full of hope.
"Yes, please!" Lord Kallig shouted, making Lady Beniko glare at him even harder than before. Leila hesitated for a moment upon hearing that, knowing that offering her assistance after lady Beniko's rejection would surely displease her lord's lover, but she ultimately decided that it didn't matter in the end. She was a loyal follower of lord Kallig and his every word was her command. She wouldn't disappoint him by abandoning him in the time of need.
"Lady Beniko. I know it's probably not my place to say this, but I think you should forgive Lord Kallig. While forgetting to prepare a ring before proposing can be seen as humiliating, I think it is actually a proof of the depth of his love for you" Leila started, trying to find a rational reasoning in her lord's incomprehensible, godly actions. She knew that what she was doing could be seen as sacrilegious, but she was convinced it was for a worthy cause.
It appeared that her decision was correct, as lord Kallig was enthusiastically nodding along, confirming she was interpreting his divine actions correctly. Noticing that lady Beniko, whose status as her lord's lover made her a divine herself, wasn't entirely convinced by her words, she decided to try to explain her train of reasoning further "When the thought of proposing to you entered lord Kallig's mind, he didn't wait to carefully plan his actions, instead immediately proposing, unable to bear even second not being engaged to you. Isn't it beautiful, lady Beniko?"
"Or maybe he is just an idiot, who always acts before he thinks, expecting me to deal with the aftereffects?" Lady Beniko replied sarcastically, making Leila gasp. How could she accuse her lord of doing something like this? She knew that lady Beniko wasn't truly mortal herself, being a spirit returned from the far beyond, but it didn't excuse her behaviour. She was about to say something, but she was stopped by lord Kallig.
"It's true that sometimes I could be a little…careless, but it's true that I couldn't wait to propose to you. I started gathering people to help me with my proposal the moment I stopped talking with Talzin" said lord Kallig, desperate to convince lady Beniko of his intentions. Seeing her lord like this almost moved Leila to tears. Lady Beniko was so disrespectful to him and yet lord Kallig not only forgave her, but still tried to reconcile with her. It was proof that her lord was superior to mortals not only in power, but also in the purity and strength of his love. It only made Leila more certain that she made the right choice by following lord Kallig.
"I don't question your feelings, Adas, believe me. I only question your judgment. You really ought to think more before acting" said Lady Beniko dryly. Her tone was still a little cold, but she didn't seem angry anymore, which Leila counted as a success.
"I know, I messed up big time. But I promise you, I will get you the best engagement ring in the entire galaxy" declared Lord Kallig, his voice much more confident than before, as he most likely also noticed Lady Beniko's improved mood. He stood up from his knees and continued speaking "I actually have a decent idea how to arrange that. I was actually planning to go there either way, as there are some things I intend to give to Bo-Katan and Tarkin that would help them improve our forces, but I have a certain stash room where I kept various things I collected through my years as a sith lord. I think that there might be something there that could help me create a perfect ring. Isn't it great?"
After saying that, lord Kallig looked at lady Beniko, trying to gauge her reaction. However, instead of the overjoyed declaration of gratitude Leila expected, she only sighed, sounding quite tired for some reason.
"I really don't need anything outrageous. I was only angry because you forgot the most important aspect of the proposal in front of your most important subordinates and allies. I would be happy with a normal, ordinary ring" lady Beniko declared, making Leila a little conflicted. On one hand she was rejecting her lord's gift, which was very disrespectful, if not straight up sacrilegious. On the other hand it was proof that lady Beniko didn't care about material goods and was perfectly happy with just being with lord Kaliig. Because of that it was quite difficult for Leila to decide how to feel about that.
"I know, I know, but you deserve the best. No ordinary ring is worthy of your hand" lord Kallig started, finally managing to make lady Beniko smile. Leila knew she was acting above her station, but she felt that the peaceful end of the conflict was partially her achievement.
"what's our next destination then, my lord?" She asked, happy that the crisis finally ended.
"I think it's time to visit Odessen again" replied Lord Kallig, smiling.
So, it's been a while. I didn't post anything for the last month, as I was mostly focused on my new fic "I am not paranoid!", making me completely forget about unexpected visitor. It didn't really change, but I plan to at least release a chapter of unexpected visitor once a week/two weeks. I don't know how it will work out, but I will at least try to keep a regular schedule.