Panatha, Canthar:
Post Mandalorian Invasion.
Rubble cracked under the metal-clad boot of Darth Vornskr the Second as she stepped inside the ruins of the once royal palace.
The light of the morning sun peered in through the jagged peaks of the broken ceiling and the pillars of dark smoke that rose from Canthar. It was difficult to see the difference between an ash-covered body or the broken rubble of what she once called home. Memories of a bittersweet childhood in the grand halls of the Zambranos flashed through her mind, of she and her sister running down the hall while one of their older siblings berated them. Which one was it again, Elani? Kassandra? The face was a blur, and another memory surfaced as she peered down one of the side hallways. This one was of the time she held Kahlil Zambrano over the edge and threatened to drop him if he did not surrender his sweets. The childish shenanigans brought a smile to her face.
Deeper yet, there were passages still obscured by rubble, but the path she most needed was clear; the path to the throne room.
Her birthright.
Joycelyn was not the first to arrive, but she thought herself to be the first of the Zambranos to make it there. She had, after all, participated in the defence of Panatha. Now, a part of her wished that she had been able to protect the palace as well. Her shrine stood, but the house of her ancestors was in tatters. Had she indeed made the right choice when she picked her battleground?
Her face grew grim when she saw the throne room itself. Her eyes read the scars on the floor and walls, the bodies strewn and tossed. The battle that had occurred there must have been quite a spectacle. Carefully, she strode across the room, reading it for further clues. There was an unmistakable scent on the air, one she knew from her travels beyond the veil.
"What happened here?"
-She asked the Force as much as anyone present while her eyes lingered on the broken throne.
"Where is my father?"
Artwork coming soon.
