Private Cellebrity Impressions

[Corazona von Ascania]

One of the troubles with a rapidly modernizing world was that not everything advanced at the same rate.

Treatment of prisoners was usually less than an afterthought. Far behind quality goods, food and medical care.

Exhausted but unable to sleep, Cora found herself winding through the dark, narrow corridors of the catacombs beneath the Ukatian palace. Accordingly, this part of the royal manor did not share the opulence of the rooms above it.

She'd taken great care to slip past the guards, though it involved taking a more meandering route to her destination. Cora had been prepared to employ a mind trick or two to ease her passage, doubtful that the Royal Seer would be called out at this hour to verify their potential claims.

A searching hand in the Force led her to him.

Cora lowered her hood, having donned a plain gray cloak over her nightclothes. The makeup had been washed from her face, and an angry bruise bloomed across her cheek. On the opposite side of her face, a red welt had taken shape.

She looked and sounded exhausted, but her eyes creased with concern as she peered closer to the durasteel bars.

"I'm sorry. I did what I could to see that you'd be treated with dignity."

A rat scurried past and she grimaced.

"What…exactly did you do to Prince Horace, Starlin?"

Starlin Rand

 

[Starlin Rand]

Ukatian jail was exactly what he expected. A dank dungeon, only with electrical lighting rather than torches along the walls.

Starlin was not disheartened, though he was a little bit bored just laying there in the dark. His jailers were smart enough to include a device which disrupted his connection to the Force, so he couldn't even entertain himself with his magic powers. Or attempt to escape.

"I'm sorry. I did what I could to see that you'd be treated with dignity."

Cora's voice disrupted the monotony. Starlin sat up on his cot. "It's all right. I'll be out of here soon enough. The Jedi can't afford to lose me in these trying times. I'll get community service, a slap on the wrist... maybe have to take the Barash for a little while." He'd done much worse, and came back swinging.

A rat scurried past Cora and toward Starlin's cell. "Oh hey, that's my homie. What's up, Horace?"

Horace the Rat paused to groom his whiskers, beady black eyes peering up at them like two inkwells.

"What…exactly did you do to Prince Horace, Starlin?"

"Jedi mind trick. I tried to make sure he left," Starlin replied. Lowering his voice, he added, "Makko wanted to talk to you alone. I tried to get him to take you and ride off into the sunset, y'know, all that romantic chit. But I guess he's too responsible now for that kind of thing." Starlin was a bit bewildered by how it had all turned out. Makko really should've been the one rushing headlong into an elopement, with his master trying to rein him in. Yet it was the opposite. Either that meant Starlin was doing a good job training him, or Makko should've been the one training him.

But what about Cora herself? He peered at her bruised face through the bars. "Damn. What the hell happened to you?"

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Silence fell over them both in the same moment as they paused to observe Horace the Rat.

"How incredibly thoughtful and stupid of you." Cora murmured, more to herself than to Starlin. The admission was followed by a shake of her head in apology. She was tired, frazzled, and lashing out.

"It wouldn't have worked out that way, I'm afraid. No one ever rides off into the sunset on Ukatis."

Her lips twitched upward in a mirthful smile.

"But you have my thanks for affording us a moment to speak with one another."

Her brief respite with Makko beneath the stairs hadn't exactly gone well, but at least they'd managed to clear some of the air between them. Cora chewed at her lower lip, wondering how things would unfold once they were both back on Coruscant.

"Oh," She waved a hand towards the bruise on her cheek, the tender dark spot contrasting with pale skin. "I objected to the union at first."

There was an air of unsettling nonchalance around the circumstances that had lead to the marks on her face. It had to be that way, in Cora's eyes, for her to bear it.

She looked to Horace, then back to Starlin. She still felt terrible about the situation he'd gotten into while attempting to help her.

"Discussions will take up the rest of the week, I imagine. Hopefully they'll be able to release you sooner rather than later."

Cora paused, looking hesitant.

"How…how is Makko? Have you been able to speak with him at all?"

Starlin Rand

 

[Starlin Rand]

"How incredibly thoughtful and stupid of you."

"I get that a lot," Starlin remarked with a good-natured smirk.

"It wouldn't have worked out that way, I'm afraid. No one ever rides off into the sunset on Ukatis."

"Who says it has to be an Ukatian sunset?" But he got it. She meant that they were screwed. Or at least she was. There was no escaping her duties. But she still thanked him for trying, and for giving them a few moments to talk. "Don't mention it," he muttered, leaning back against the wall of his cell.

The bruises were explained in vague terms. His brow furrowed, his expression darkening. "You know, one of my mother's old boyfriends used to beat me when I was a kid," he said suddenly, with only a hint of dry humor—until even that evaporated as he went on. "Not so much for disobeying as for existing, but you know. Mom was a user then, so she'd be strung out on the couch, and I was just a kid dreaming of the Jedi, so he knew he could get away with it.

"I know you feel powerless, impotent. At their mercy. If my mother hadn't gotten clean and kicked that old bastard to the curb, things would've been very different for me. I wasn't my own savior."

But he had been a child then. Cora was almost a woman. At some point, she might have to be her own savior.

"I haven't seen him since the party," Starlin admitted. "Although it looked like he stormed out." He had been hoping that Hex would help him out, at least, if she was a true friend of his. But if not, he had contacted the Council and even his other apprentice Lief , hoping that somebody would check up on Makko Vyres in his absence. The kid wasn't in a good place emotionally. The last thing he needed was to do something he would regret while off on his own.

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

The story of Starlin's past drew a frown to her swollen face. There was, to Cora, a difference in striking someone out of discipline and striking someone to feel powerful. The later was abhorrent, and the former was a lesson.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through that, Starlin. No child should have to endure abuse at the hands of someone who is supposed to protect them."

Cora chewed at her lower lip. Perhaps she wasn't aware of the irony one could draw from that statement, but mostly she just wished that her private struggles hadn't been put on display.

"This isn't just about me, Starlin." Her soft, whispered words almost seemed to echo through the catacombs.

"I know that this is uncomfortable for everyone to see. It's unpleasant for me as well, but I'm not without reason for bearing this type of treatment."

Reaching forward, she wrapped a hand around one of the iron bars separating them.

"To marry into the royal family is the highest honor my family could hope for—to reject such a proposal would be nothing short of a grievous insult. I have siblings, seven of them. I'd sooner die than witness the crown retaliate against my family, which is a very real possibility."

"Ascania territory isn't as fertile as it once was. Backlash could come to the farmers who work the land, and what kind of noblewoman would I be if I refused to safeguard their interests? Their livelihood?”

Her hand tightened its grip on the bar, nails digging into the thin corrosion of rust.

"There are no saviors here. Only duty."

Starlin Rand

 

[Starlin Rand]

"I'm sorry that you had to go through that, Starlin. No child should have to endure abuse at the hands of someone who is supposed to protect them."

Starlin gave her a skeptical look. He didn't need to state the obvious, though. She knew how she sounded.

Starlin was quiet as a confessional, listening to her reasoning. It sounded like she was in a tough spot with no easy way out. She was trying to protect others by sacrificing herself, her freedom and happiness, for their sakes.

"That's very Jedi-like of you," Starlin said at last.

What more could he say? She had clearly made up her mind. Trying to convince her otherwise would be a disservice to her. So he didn't.

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

"That's very Jedi-like of you," Starlin said at last.

Cora swallowed thickly. Her lips parted for another response, but she couldn't find the words. She hadn't expected Starlin to view her actions as Jedi-like. Cora didn’t feel much like a Jedi at all right now.

Is that why it hurt so much to hear him say that?

"Things will…get better." Her voice croaked, throat suddenly dry. "Everyone is worked up by what happened at the party. After enough time, tensions will settle. Ukatis and the Alliance will be able to work together."

Her hand fell away from the bar and she looked to Starlin intently.

"I'm sorry that you've gotten caught up in all this when you were only trying to help…and, well, I know I've no right to ask this of you, but could you do something for me?"

"Could you…look after him?"

Starlin Rand

 

[Starlin Rand]

"Who, Makko?" Starlin muttered. Of course she was talking about Makko. "Yeah. Of course."

Makko hadn't slipped his mind. Starlin had thought a great deal about how all of this would affect his second Padawan. Makko's will to succeed as a Jedi had been tenuous from the get-go, and somehow he didn't think losing his girlfriend like this was going to help his drive. Or maybe he would throw himself into the work as a way to escape the pain. Starlin would just have to wait and see.

"We street kids gotta stick together," Starlin said with a weak little smile. Force, he felt so powerless. Even the Force was beyond his reach inside this cell. But magic powers couldn't stop all this from happening. His imprisonment was proof of that.

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

As she stood there, watching Starlin behind bars, Cora fidgeted with her hands. It was a nervous habit.

She found a small, tired smile for him when he agreed.

"He looks up to you, you know. That's pretty big for him."

Makko didn't trust easily, not with the life he'd had. A flush of nausea hit her at the realization that she'd given him a very big reason to erode the mutual trust they'd built.

"And tell him that-"

I'm sorry. I never meant for this to happen, not now. Not like this. Forget about m-

Cutting herself off, Cora pressed her lips together tightly and shook her head. No, that would just be unfair to Makko. He deserved to hear it from her.

Hesitating, she picked a speck of rust from beneath her nails.

"I should be going. It'll only be a matter of time before the next guard sweep. Starlin, I…I really am sorry about all of this. I'll do what I can to see that you're released as soon as possible."

The smile she tried to give was encouraging, but the look in her eyes said that she felt just as powerless as him.

Starlin Rand

 

[Starlin Rand]

"He looks up to you, you know. That's pretty big for him."

"I'm not that much taller than Makko," Starlin said with that same sad little smile. "Maybe a couple inches..."

He trailed off vaguely, running his fingers through his hair. By now this meeting had become awkward and painful for him. He felt sorry for Cora and Makko and everyone else involved in this whole mess, but not being able to do anything about it was driving him up the damned wall.

"And tell him that-"

Starlin waited for her to finish, even raising his eyebrows and making a few gestures with his hands to try and prompt her. But Cora never finished her sentence. Instead, she apologized again and said she had to be going.

"Okay," he muttered. "Cool, cool... I'll, uh, see you around, I guess? Maybe?..."

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

"Cool, cool... I'll, uh, see you around, I guess? Maybe?..."

"I should hope so."

Cora's smile was already wavering, and now it had weakened significantly. She'd spent so much energy defending her family's actions—her own actions—that she hadn't realized how lacking she was in any political power to make a significant change.

She couldn't even persuade the crown to release a friend.

With a muted sigh, Cora shifted the hood back over her head and gave Starlin a sad, longing stare.

Something something, they were both prisoners behind bars. Her own were more proverbial.

"Horace knows," She whispered suddenly. "About me and Makko. He-"

He'd said awful things. Cora's jaw tensed as the Prince's words rang in her ears, still fresh.

"He found us beneath the stairs. I don't know if he's going to do anything, but I need you to protect Makko."

She'd already asked once, and Starlin had agreed. Maybe Cora had felt the need to give additional context, or maybe the thoughts were simply tumbling from her mouth as they came to her.

Starlin Rand

 

[Starlin Rand]

Starlin expected her to leave at that point, but she stayed. He remained patient with her, showing no sign of surprise when she revealed that Horace knew about her and Makko. "Yeah, I noticed," he said. "He came out from where you and Makko had gone together. Wasn't hard to figure out."

"He found us beneath the stairs. I don't know if he's going to do anything, but I need you to protect Makko."

"I kinda doubt he would be that petty. Once you marry him, there wouldn't be much of a point." He shrugged, smirking grimly. "But okay. He may be able to put me in jail on Ukatis, but outside of this planet your prince doesn't have much authority. Just, uh, maybe don't arrange for any romantic rendezvous here, no matter how secret you think they are."

But Cora didn't seem like the type to keep Makko dangling after she was married. Nah, they'd probably broken things off, or at least she had. It remained to be seen just how poorly Makko would take the breakup.

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

"Oh."

Starlin had a point, and it made Cora wonder if she'd been overthinking things. A lot had happened over the past 24 hours, and she didn't feel like herself.

Didn't know what feeling like herself would even mean at this point.

Maybe it was easier for Horace to play the Big Scary Villain while he was on Ukatis. For seventeen years, Ukatis had been her galaxy, and the crown's power absolute.

On Coruscant, Ukatis was just another unremarkable speck in a sea of far more fascinating worlds. Still, she wanted to prevent anyone else from being caught in the crossfire of her engagement.

"Just, er, take care. Please. Try and get some sleep, if you can."

So full of thoughts before, Cora found herself devoid of anything to say aside from a few pitiful, hollow words.

“I owe you one, Starlin.”

Footsteps echoed at the far end of the hall, coming from the adjacent corridor. With one last sorrowful look at Starlin, Cora clutched at her hood with both hands, and scurried away.

Starlin Rand