She looked back towards the floating Phalomir. At the horizon, the Great Temple of the Warriors was coming in to view. "What say you to the idea of placing him in the care of the Healers? Certainly we want this one very hale and whole...

...and he will most certainly be well watched there. As to what we should do while we wait for your Mother..."

Shayla trailed, a thought immediately coming to her mind. "I would very much like it if you could inform me more of the Sith ways. We cannot afford another mistake on my part such as the one I made back there, and you are much more versed on the subject than I."

--------------------

She, a Teacher?

Frowning a moment, she got herself under control, her step firming and now even increasing in pace. Moments later they had come upon the Grand Sairway leading up the side of the stepped Temple of the Warriors; placing a foot atop the first step she began the long climb upward.

"Yes, let us leave this Lord in the care of the Royal Healers," she said with a definite nod of her head.

"For they are the most skilled of all the Healers, and as they are likewise the ones charged with keeping the Royal Family healthy, they themselves have a strong squadron of Warriors to guard them.

"Lord Phalomir shall be safe there."

She paused for awhile then, concentrating all her strength toward the formidable climb to the apex of the front-Temple, where the doorway to the courtyard and then temple proper awaited. Reaching the top step, she hurried along, an uncomfortable ripple of unease coursing through her as he headed toward the smooth stone facade ahead, the ornate engraven stone balustrade which lined the courtyard speaking a whisper of dark possibilities.

This was where it had happened, or would happen... or could she thought to herself, remembering with intricate detail the image shown to her by the Revealer.

It was right here, and he was next to her...

She slowed then, casting a look over her shoulder toward Shayla and her yet floating charge, but it wasn't to the young woman that her penetrating gaze was directed. She waffled a moment--

"We must trust him," she finally murmured, not realizing that in speaking to herself she had spoken aloud. She turned away and hastened onward, coming to the ornate door set deeply into the facade and opening it to reveal the colonnaded and echoing Grand Foyer. Through this she went, followed by Shayla, passing then through the shadowy pillars until they came to another wall, one in which was set a pair of ornatedly carved and jewel-encrusted doors.

She opened these, turned sideways, and bid Shayla enter into the Temple of the Warriors with Phalomir. She spoke no further word, not to her or to any of the obviously surprised Sith they met along the way until at last she arrived at their destination: the Royal Healing Chambers.

Leading the pair inside, she summoned the nearest Healer, paying no attention to anyone else who might be in that chamber.

"See to his well-being and guard him against any other except myself, the Second, or Mother herself!" she bid, once again the haughty young Heiress Apparent. Not even waiting for a reply she turned on her heel, and led Shayla back and away, once more traversing long corridors that twisted and turned as if a maze, finally coming to the Grand Dining Hall.

There she hastened to the back, where a little row of booths provided them with a modicum of privacy. A wave and sharp bark of a command to a hurriedly hastening servant assured them that food and drink would soon arrive; plopping herself down into the booth and propping her elbows on the table, she cupped her chin in her hands.

"Well," she began.

"What do you wish to know?"

[ 12-27-2006 03:09 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by ShaRhylla ]

--------------------

...there still seemed to be much she did not know of. And even though they would mostly likely be breaking many of those ways in time...

...she still needed to know of those ways now. For many of those ways would still remain as well. And it was thus that something she had failed to be aware of back in the Great Library came to her attention.

"What do you know of the Assasins, especially in regards to their connection and uses amongst the Royalty of the Sith?" Shayla queried. "In my studies with your Mother, she never mentioned them...

...for in fact she did not know of them til recently. What have you learned of them in your time with Rykounagin?"

--------------------

Her eyes cut to the servant, pinned her.

"Something stronger!" she hissed, staring up at the quaking girl from beneath her brows who promptly vanished, only to rematerialize moments later with a carafe of something green.

Sharhylla grunted, snatched the carafe, and waved the servant away. Pouring herself a drink of the Sith brandy and then one for Shayla, she slammed the silver container down, picked up her goblet, and tossed a warming draught of it down her young throat.

It sent her into immediate fits of coughing. Her hand shot out, waving the rising Shayla back as after a bit of time she got herself under control once again.

"The Assassin's Guild," she breathed, sending brandy fumes shooting in Shayla's direction.

"From what I have learned, which indeed is not much, they used to have a large group. But from what Rykounagin has told me, there is only himself and his brother left to carry on the tradition. I don't know what has happened to his brother; perhaps he mentioned that he killed him, but of this I am not certain."

She took a second drink, managing by great effort to swallow this one without incident.

"I do know that they are bound to the Lords of the clans; well, a Lord may take it upon himself to bind an assassin to himself. They are versed in some of the Sith magicks, and have been used for ages in the role of political assassinations, I think."

Plopping her elbow on the table again, she laid her cheek against a fist.

"I don't know how they were trained or who did this, but he told me they learned such things in the asteroid where he took me, which was a secret base or something along those lines. There was this thing, a repository he called it, which contained all the knowledge learned by the cult over time."

She stopped then, as a question to something she herself had said now rose up to taunt her. Then she darkened, slammed down another drink.

"It would appear that our friend has been out to destroy the Sith for far longer than we think, for he has been out to kill Mother for quite some time.

"What else do you wish to learn of them that I might know?"

--------------------

She trailed, her eyes defocusing, "But then again, maybe it does. We should look in to this."

Quieting a moment at that, Shayla finally took up the goblet in front of her, taking a dainty and small swallow of the portent drink it contained.

Few she knew who could take it down in one gulp. But then, there was one.

A dark little smile momentarily rimmed the edges of Shayla's goblet before she lowered it from her lips. "Anything you can tell me of the current ruling body of the Sith is of my interest; I know of the Triumvarate and of the clans, but little else aside from that," Shayla admitted. Then she paused, recalling Graysith's own request of her when she sent her and ShaRhylla away.

"Is there anything you wish to know from me? Your mother did request that I fill you in, and I intend to do just that...

...but I'm not sure I'm quite certain where to begin."

[ 12-27-2006 05:02 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

--------------------

"I do not even know what Mother referred to, much less ask questions regarding it," she finally offered before emptying her goblet. Then reaching to pour a refresher she took hold of the carafe, and was in the act of lifting it from the table when she paused.

"You know, it only makes logical sense that the Sorcerers are the clan to start up the Assassin's cult," she offered in a nonchalant manner, lifting a finger to her mouth to tap a pearly claw against her teeth.

"Since they are skilled in the magicks of the Sith and all..."

Darting a dark look Shayla's way, she finished refilling her glass, and once more took a great draught of it.

[ 12-27-2006 05:53 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by ShaRhylla ]

--------------------

She paused, taking another sip from her brandy goblet, her eyes darkening further as she furrowed her brow. "We do not even know from where and when Rykounagin came into play here; perhaps Dark Lord Aelvedaar was not aware the Assasins yet had a living seed. Rykounagin did come into the picture quite out of the blue; was he brought forward with the Sith...

...or was he here before them? And if the latter is true, how in the Universe could it be, consdering the timeline of the Sith?"

--------------------

"Perhaps that is something we might torture out of him, once the opportunity arises," she said as she toyed a bit with her drink.

--------------------

At length Phalomir began to stir beneath the administrations he was receiving. Nodding with satisfaction, the Healer raised a clawed hand to a subordinent, bidding he fetch something to cover the Lord's body with. The Healing Adept bowed and fled, soon returning with a short white robe spun of the purest of spider's silk. Nodding, the Healer watched as the Adept covered Phalomir in this new garb, then retreated from the bedside.

...her smile quickly turning into a frown then. "That is if the Master doesn't send him into the Tower to get the Finger without his desired precautions and he gets killed first," she observed, reaching up to twist her fingers through a ringlet of her growing hair.

"I wonder what they will do when they realize the Revealer is out of order," she mused her look darkening. "We should be careful, for they may venture here. After all, the Master was with Lord Aelvedaar and Phalomir. He probably knows that they came here."

--------------------

"If we're lucky he'll go to the Darker Realms and not ever come back; you know, we could meet them there and make certain this happens--"

She raised her brows at Shayla, and smiled at her over the rim of her glass.

--------------------

...a sly smile slowly coming to her face. "Or we could just wait and let them do the dirty work in regards to obtaining the Finger of R'lous. After all, the Master has to know he cannot use Rykounagin to attack any of us, not while the assasin is bound to Phalomir. And he also has to know he will be unable to attack us so long as Rykounagin is bound, either..."

Shayla trailed, her eyes slitting. "We should request that Lord Phalomir call him back here," she said thoughtfully. "Otherwise the Master will certainly kill the Assasin himself...

...and I don't want that responsibility in the hands of anyone other than ourselves."

--------------------

"Th-then we must make certain that nothing happens to Lord Phalomir, too," she reasoned, hiccuping slightly.

"Since he's the one to control Rykounagin; maybe we'd better go sit with him until he awakens, or until Mother returns."

She paused at that, her frown deepening. Plopping a steadying elbow on the table and placing her face against her fist, stared off into middle space.

"I wonder where she's gone," she mused.

--------------------

She trailed for a moment, her eyes defocusing a bit before they snapped alert once more. "As for looking in on Lord Phalomir...

...I think that is a good idea. After all, the best way to make certain he remains here hale and whole is to keep a watchful eye on him ourselves."

Nodding once with this thought, Shayla got to her feet, then helping a somewhat unsteady ShaRhylla to her feet as well. "How interesting it would be if we were to make it to the Dark Lord's side before he awakes, just to see his reaction to his current circumstances..."

Raising her eyebrows at that, Shayla waited for Rhylla to become more steady on her feet before taking the path back to the Royal Healing Chambers.

--------------------

The walls and opulent accoutrements of the Grand Receiving Chamber brightened as something like a tiny sun suddenly appeared in the middle of it. This sun thinned, lengthened, rapidly transforming into something both eerie and extremely difficult to look upon: a Portal, opened in the very fabric of space and time.

She stepped out from that shining rift, tucking the repository back into the folds of her cloak as she did so. Then she made a determined bee-line to a bell-pull hanging off to one side, gave it a good, strong yank.

Moments later a Sith warrior of the upper echelons appeared and bowed before her. She spoke with him, swiftly, succinctly, but in great detail. The warrior's eyes widened a touch, but he trusted the Dark Lady.

Bowing to her, he went off to do her bidding, the last of which was to shut the door into the Receiving Room quietly, and to remain silent to all others concerning her return.

At least for the moment...

Graysith allowed a little smile to coil about her lips. Humming a little tune, her eyes oiling black, she mounted the dias leading up to the twin thrones at its apex.

Scorning the lesser, she took a seat in that of the Dark Lord of the Warriors.

And there she simply... waited.

[ 12-28-2006 01:13 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

--------------------

And the Dark Lord they had come to watch slumbered peacefully, not a hint of injury upon his person.

Something prompted Shayla to take a step further, then another step, then another step, until at length she was standing directly beside the Sith. Without really thinking, Shayla moved a hand to lay it upon the Dark Lord's forehead...

...and moved no further. Slitting her eyes then, she watched Lord Phalomir slumber, a dark thought oiling from underneath her calm surface.

"One Son to rule them all, and in the Darkness bind them," she whispered, not knowing where the words were truly coming from. With a snort, she cast her greeny-blue gaze on ShaRhylla then. "His Love makes him nothing more than a Pawn in the Master's Game, you know."

Shayla fell silent then, her eyes defocusing, an oil rising within as they did so.

And what of you, Shayla Stargazer Petrolu Kartan? What of yours?

Stepping back then, Shayla turned in one graceful motion to ShaRhylla, smiling now something dark and altogether unpleasant. "I'm afraid there are more lose ends than merely this one," she observed, nodding back towards Phalomir. "He is not the only one who would do anything for his Love despite the Greater Good of the Sith."

She trailed, her eyes now slitting. "This will never do."

--------------------

Her lip curled and she turned to stare down at Phalomir. Then--

"Oh look," she commented, hiccupping again.

"He's starting to wake up."

Reaching out a slender finger, she poked Phalomir in his shoulder one time, and then again.

Harder.

--------------------

He heard voices, female. One voice in particular carried to him, soft and sweet as the morning wind, and as familiar as the day. He reached a hand to touch the finger pressing into him and opened one bleary eye. Long red waves of hair blurred into view, bringing a sudden quiet joy to Phalomir as the rest of his body struggled to wake.

“Jharmeen,” he said softly. He patted her hand, then gripped it gently, caressing the top with his thumb. Smiling, he closed his eye, squinting to draw away the dryness he felt, and to complete the waking process.

--------------------

"This is... Sorben Tarnus, approaching your capital city at the bequest of the Dark Lady," I opened, hoping this would be accepted yet knowing deep in my gut that it would. Pursing my lips, I then continued, now compensating for a rising wind which was buffeting me about.

It matched my mood exactly.

"Requesting approach vector and landing coordinates..."

My words were truncated as my receiver began to crackle.

"Tarnus, this is Ch'arlingua. We are expecting your arrival; please follow this heading--"

A string of numerals scrolled across my screens only to disappear, hungrily gulped down by my navigational computer.

"You will find yourself well met.

"Welcome to K'eel Doba. Ch'arlingua, out."

The voice disappeared and my ship bucked, but this time it was due to a directional change rather than the wind. More scenery flashed beneath my belly, and then I saw it. There in the distance.

So long; it's been so long...

Smoothly, I guided my ship down to the tarmac, coming to a gentle touch-down in the spaceport of Ch'arlingua. The ship had barely begun its cooling sequence when I was out of it, striding down the gangway, hands on my holstered blasters.

Imposing-looking Sith were waiting for me, their weapons held at parade rest. As I approached they snapped to attention and bowed; then one stepped forward.

"You will please come with us," he said, motioning to the others who fell into an honor guard around me.

Thus surrounded, I was led away from my ship.

--------------------

The halfling yanked her hand away, taking a step backwards as she began wiping it upon her clothing; clothing, she realized with a start, which was yet the formal attire she had dressed herself in before Rykounagin had taken her to the assassin cult's secret base.

She stood swaying a moment, looking down at herself; then cut her gaze back to the half-asleep Lord.

"He thinks himself a Dark Lord?" she sputtered, wiping the back of her hand once again against her dress, vowing for this reason and for the fact that she had donned it for the sake of her ex-husband that she would never, ever wear it again.

"A drunken Hutt is more observant!"

--------------------

His chest still showing the myriad of scars he received during his torture in the Darker Realms, his lean muscles now held a new burn mark.

“Many pardons,” he said, clearing the cobwebs. “You sound so much like your mother. What… what happened?”

--------------------

"We need the fool, Rykounagin, called back here to you now."

[ 12-28-2006 09:16 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

--------------------

"You were about to pass the bondage of him from you to me, when the old Sith who is with him attacked you."

She paused a moment, trying to focus the two Sith Lords into one.

"It seems he was trying to kill you, and save us the trouble."

She smiled sweetly.

--------------------

“You really do, in many ways, remind me of your mother.”

“Do you think that is wise?” he asked Shayla. “Considering how I feel, I will guess it was Sith magick tainted with the All. I felt that once before, when I was attacked by the Finger of R’lous. Which means that Rykounagin is with the Master, either by choice or by force. If Rykounagin tries to come here, the Master will know.”

He looked back to ShaRylla, traces of his smile still there.

“Do you know what he wants with the assassin? And, perhaps I could have my clothing returned?”

--------------------

"How would I know; I am not Rykounagin's keeper!" she snarled, then turned away to pace about the Healing Chamber, just to see who else was there.

"As for your clothing... perhaps it was burned," she said brightly, whirling and staring Phalomir straight in the face from across the room.

--------------------