Private Consumed | Adron Malvern

[Saraya Arenais]

T E S T​

T A G | Adron Malvern

When his lips brushed hers, she greeted them with a delighted sigh. This kiss was different. Powerful. Perhaps it was the ebony pool, or the crystal, or the dark side, but when Adron pulled back to speak again she knew. It was just him.

His hand tightened their grip on the crystal. She could feel the sharp edges pressing gently into her flesh. To his question, she offered a nod. There was a throbbing sensation in her palm that was not the burn marks from the silver, or the pressure Adron had placed on it. Saraya turned her gaze to the hilt and watched it carefully as he made his inspections. His nod of approval was a defining moment for her, and she could not stop a beaming smile from illuminating her face.

Closing her palm around the crystal once more, Saraya adjusted herself to face the floating components properly. At Adron’s command, she leant forward, raising her hand up as she manoeuvred the crystal clutch between her fingertips. The tip of her tongue poked from her lips as concentration invaded her expression. A swell of force surrounded her as the crystal lifted from her grip to join the components as they circled above them. As with the rest of the pieces, Saraya felt an innate sense of satisfaction as it clicked into place.

Her hand shot out to receive the slowly falling saber, which she looked at with shortage of pride.

Her free hand lifted to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear as her teeth sunk into her lower lip, she stood to answer Adron’s question. “I suppose…” The hesitation in her tone was mostly in regard to the fact that her mother had not deemed swordplay a necessary lesson for a lady. Saraya was aware of little more than the fact that you were meant to hit the other person with it. Her feet padded quietly across the marble until she came to face Adron.

Saraya’s intense amethyst gaze spent the next few moments studying Adron’s stance. Where his fingers gripped his blade, where his other arm sat, how he had positioned his feet. Everything down to the angles of his wrists. As her body shifted to mirror his perfectly, her thumb pushed on the ignition switch. A beam of vibrant purple light shot up into the air, joining the Kingsaber in dousing the room with its unforgiving neon glow. “I’m ready.” She remarked to her fiancé, a thin smirk playing on her lips.

 

[Adron Malvern]

L I G H T S A B E R​

Tags: Saraya Arenais ​

The Queensaber was beautifully handled within Saraya's hand. There was a small smile of approval that came from the King's lips as he took note of the imperfections of her stance and handle of the weapon. He deactivated the weapon in his hand, clasping it to his waistband as he closed the distance between them. "When utilizing a lightsaber you must be aware of the Force, allow it to guide you." His hand wrapped around her wrist, rotating it slightly into a very precise position. As her hand went into a proper hold of the hilt, he squeezed her hand pointedly. "Just like that. The connection to the Force is precious and must be maintained, however it is in our form and routine that we perfect the art of the lightsaber."

"I will teach you as I was taught by my father. The first form is The Way of the Sarlacc, Shii-Cho. It is the most standard of lightsaber forms and one of the easiest to grasp. Shii-Cho is not an assortment of techniques or martial mannerisms, it is essentially the foundation to lightsaber combat." He told her. The man stepped away from Saraya with a rather amused look on his face as he did. "To properly perform Shii-Cho you must establish the connection between yourself and your lightsaber. You must give yourself to the Force." The man approached a table at the edge of the room, opening one of the drawers and pulling out a black sash of silk. He made his way back to Saraya and stepped behind her, his hands came over her shoulder, bringing the sash over her eyes and blinding her to the room around them. He pulled it tight, leaning down and pressing his lips to press into the back of her neck.

"Give yourself to the Force. Give yourself to the Dark Side. Give yourself to me." He smiled, biting into her neck teasingly before stepping out from behind her.

"Raise your lightsaber, take it into both of your hands and focus on the Force." Only a moment later there was the sound of a repulsor floating through the room. The droid floated around Saraya, a small stun-blaster ejecting from the small sphere's body. Adron stepped back, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched the droid float around his wife to be. He spoke softly. "They will hurt quite a bit if you do not deflect them..." He said simply. "Use the pain."

"Begin." And then a blaster shot echoed out.​

 

[Saraya Arenais]

P A I N​

T A G | Adron Malvern

Saraya was liquid in his grasp. She had not expected her initial attempt to be perfect, so she was more than prepared for the corrections. With the inching of her wrist in one direction, the way she held it felt far more natural. As though it was an extension of her arm.

A smile formed on her lips as he continued to speak. “It sounds like dancing.” Form and routine were the most vital aspects of the lessons she had taken in her youth. She had lost count of the number of stings she’d felt from the instructor’s willow cane against her back. Saraya was rather pleased with the revelation that swordplay was not too dissimilar. The only difference was having a deadly weapon in one hand instead of a partner.

When Adron stepped away, Saraya’s amethyst gaze immediately followed him.

The look in his face made her narrow her eyes at him playfully. She could not stifle her giggle as he strode back toward her, a stream of black silk in hand. Her gaze remained on him until she could strain her neck no more and he disappeared from view behind her back. “What are yo-…” She began to ask as the world was doused in darkness, but the words were stolen from her lips with his tender kiss. In the darkness, she felt the tingle of desire down her spine doubly so, until it dimpled her flesh and stood her hair on end.

Another shudder caused a sigh of delight to force its way from her lips when his teeth sank into her flesh. If she was meant to be focusing on the force, Adron was making it exceedingly difficult. Saraya loved every moment of it.

At his behest, her other hand wrapped around the hilt of the Queensaber. The second she did, a sound unlike anything she had heard before echoed through the room. She blindly turned to look at the source, yet she found nothing but shadow. “Wait.” She began as he commanded the repulsor to start, half shifting her hand from the hilt to pull back her blindfold. “Ho-…” Another noise drowned out her words, followed by a sharp cry of dismay from Saraya as the shot found its mark.

Pain radiated from the top of her thigh upward, until it forced her to clench her teeth alongside her grip on the saber. Before she could regain her composure, the repulsor spat out another shot. Knowing what lay behind it was motivation enough to try to deflect it, but the first shot had left her confused, and it came from an entirely different direction now. It skimmed over the top of her shoulder, drenching the room in the stench of burned silk and singed flesh. The second wave of pain was far worse than the first. She had known what was coming and expected it to hurt, yet even steeling herself against it helped very little.

This time, before the throb in her shoulder had even begun to ease, Saraya focused herself. Adron had directed her to use the pain. The darkness behind the blindfold had helped her once before, when he had asked her to lift the table from the balcony, and it would help her now. In the same way she used the brand upon her chest to summon the memory of his touch, she used the pain radiating from her shoulder and thigh to command the force. She felt the metal beneath her fingers warming slowly as the connection to the crystal began to dominate her mind.

Another shot fired.

Only now, Saraya could see the outline of its form amidst the darkness, wrapped in wisps of softly glowing smoke that faded in and out as it cut through the air. The Queensaber hummed loudly as she brought it swinging down, twisting at the waist to catch the shot with the edge of the blade. Her execution may have been as graceful and elegant as her form on in a ballroom, but her aim was still far from perfect. She certainly did deflect the shot, but as it careened from the beam of purple light, it came ricocheting back toward Saraya. It grazed over the surface of her outstretched leg, which forced her to pull back in surprise.

Pain. Followed by a wave of frustration and disappointment at her failure. She had already learned that emotion was an invaluable tool in controlling the force. The disappointment quickly melted into anger and determination. She steeled herself again, ready for the next shot.

When it fired, she was far quicker with her form this time.

It was far clearer in the shadow this time, Saraya could even see the remnants of the repulsor as it fired. Her body turned, swinging the Queensaber in a beautiful arc to meet the shot mid-air. The sound it made is hissed violently against the purple beam was exceedingly satisfying, but the lack of sting afterwards was even more so. “I did it!” Saraya had meant to cry out, full of elation, but it came out as a breathless whisper.

 

[Adron Malvern]

Q U E E N S A B E R​

Tags: Saraya Arenais ​

It is not so easy is it, to abandon your site which you trust for the Force...which is so elusive.

The words of his father echoed through his mind as the first blaster round flew. He saw it land home on Saraya and his lips curled into a small smile. A necessary pain. A pain that she would be able to use to focus her mind and bring her emotions to a singular point. Of course these things could take time, sometimes they could take days. It did not matter, the lesson was as it would be. He could feel her anger rising, yet her mind was no less focused from the moment that she had taken her stance with the blade. She was prepared. She knew the cost of failure. So how would she fare with that in mind?

When the next shot flew, Saraya reacted. Her form left...much to be desired, but it was quite obvious that she had relied on the Force to guide her hand, not something as faulty as her eyesight. The next shot grazed her rather than filling her with the full rush of pain as the last ones had. Often overconfidence in this moment led the student to become careless and that was when they would suffer another stroke of pain from the blaster bolt. However, the future Queen of Illyria did not fail to impress. The King watched her for a moment with nothing short of amazement as the final bolt bounced off of her lightsaber, only to disperse into the air in the next moment.

For a time there was only the sound of her celebration at blocking the bolt. The King brought his hands together in a few even claps as he looked to Saraya with a prideful expression. "Beautifully done." He said as he made his way further from her, sitting in the center of the hall. He brought himself down into a cross-legged position as his eyes slowly closed.

"Now. Let us see how you fare against the rest of them." At that moment, four more of the spherical droids floated from the edge of the room. They began to encircle the woman like predators, each of them ejecting their stun blasters while the menacing whir of their repulsors was all that could be heard.

The King fell into meditation. She would survive. However, the next four hours would be taxing for her.​

 

[Saraya Arenais]

G R E E D​

T A G | Adron Malvern

The claps echoed in her mind as loudly as they echoed from the marble walls. They formed a beaming smile on Saraya’s face. She did not need to see to know he was proud of her. She could feel it, as hard and as strong as she felt her own pride. Her own emotions were the perfect tool to wield the dark side, but for Saraya, it was his emotion that would help her to master it. To control and dominate it as he did.

She was just about to lift the blindfold from her eyes when the sound of his footsteps filled her ears. Half expecting his touch to caress her skin moments later, Saraya stopped and waited with bated breath. When they instead stopped in the centre of the hall, followed by a soft thud as he lowered himself to the ground, Saraya could not help but pout. An expression that quickly drained from her face the moment Adron began to speak again.

“The rest of them…” Her words were drowned out by a shot, and a cry of pain. Followed by another, and another, and another…

A resounding sigh of exhaustion and gratification swept over Saraya’s face as silence finally overtook the room. Her ears still rung with the sound of the shots, and the unrelenting thud of her own heart, but it was silence still. Somewhere in those four hours, she had stopped allowing the repulsors to abuse her. Somewhere in the four hours, the real pain had stopped. Her body was littered with burns, every muscle in her body screamed profanities each time she moved, she felt more exhausted than she ever had in her entire life, but somewhere in those four hours… Saraya had won.

The Queensaber made a resounding fizz as the purple beam finally died down, dousing the room in a shade that matched the darkness behind her blindfold. It took her a moment or two to remember she even had it on, and another moment or two to uncurl her fingers around the hilt of the saber. When the room flooded in her amethyst gaze landed directly on Adron. His favour for challenging her had defeated the limits she assumed he would reach.

“Ouch.” She finally said, with a smirk playing on her flushed face. The blindfold slipped from between her fingertips, fluttering erratically as gravity called it back to earth. Shortly after, she crossed the room to where Adron sat and lowered her shaking legs down to sit opposite him. Finally abandoning it by her side, the Queensaber clattered as it rocked against the ebony marble.

Her purple eyes locked onto his, the smirk on her expression now boldly displayed. “That was cruel.” In all the things she'd learned about Adron so far, that fact was not at all surprising. He could be far worse than just cruel. Where most would have escaped by now, the more Adron revealed of his true self, the more Saraya wanted to stay. The darker his soul revealed itself to be, the firmer its grip on her own seemed to be. Saraya shuffled forward on her knees until she could slip herself into his lap, one leg either side of his.

Despite how desperately her body cried for rest, despite how agonising each movement was, Saraya looped her arms around Adron's neck and pressed herself against him. “When can we do it again?”

 

[Adron Malvern]

M O R N I N G​

Tags: Saraya Arenais ​

Four.

The moment that the fourth hour passed the King's eyes began to slowly open. The shining jewels of amethyst released their purple hue over the tired form that laid before him. Even exhausted with sweat flowing down her brow and her hair soaked, she was effortlessly beautiful. He watched her lower herself down across from him. She claimed it was cruel. His lips curled into a soft smile before he spoke softly. "That was nothing." He replied to her with the same air of confidence and expectation that exuded from his being. When his lover crawled forward into his lap, the Sith Lord wrapped his arms around her to pull her close to him.

When can we do it again?

His lips curled into a smile. "Tomorrow." He promised her. His hand came up, fingers flowing through her hair to free some of the mats and tangles she'd gained in her training. "Lightsaber training takes a lifetime to master, but you are doing well. You are giving yourself to the Force." He felt his hold on her tighten as he spoke softly in her ears. "You are giving yourself to me." The man looked to his wife to be before pausing for a moment and running a single finger along her cheek. There was a silence between them as he leaned forward to press his lips to the side of her temple. "What would you sacrifice for me?" He whispered softly.

"Would you sacrifice who you are? Would you sacrifice all you have?" His hand came up to press against the tear shaped brand that had been formed in the center of her chest. "Would you sacrifice your family?" Slowly his hand fell down to where her stomach was, pressing into it softly. "If I gave you a new one? Would you sacrifice it all?" His lips pressed against the back of her neck with a smile coming to his lips. He'd long since learned that Saraya was unlike any woman he had ever met. Her loyalty had no end, no disruptions, and no distractions.

A single hand took hers as he looked over the rough skin that had been irritated by her handling of her lightsaber. "You are Saraya Arenais. I must make you Saraya Malvern. The galaxy will know you as you are, an angel, an Arenais. A woman of joy and peace." He leaned down to kiss the back of her hand softly. "But I will turn you into a monster, a being of pure darkness, my wife." He muttered softly between gentle kisses along her arm. He knew these moments where he deepened their relationship were vital to what they were. As much as the man had wished he could claim that he was manipulating her, it was false. His heart ached at the thought of being without her. She had, unwittingly, mastered the first rule of Adron's Sith Code.

Make yourself a necessity to those around you and they will never turn against you.

She had claimed his heart so swiftly. He wondered how conscious she was of this fact. It made her the most dangerous woman in the galaxy, the only one he could never harm.

"Enough of this for now. There will be time to talk about it later. I think dinner and some rest has been earned."

Adron did eventually rise from where they sat, of course it took him quite a while. When they did rise he pulled Saraya's hand into his and led her out of the training hall. She had done well and she deserved pleasure this night. He would ensure she received everything she deserved.

~~~
​

The next morning came swiftly. After a fine evening together and enjoying the same bed, Adron did not take the morning as he usually did. Instead he allowed the sun to rise without him for once. He had been awake for some time, yet instead of departing their bed he laid in it, a hand softly running along Saraya's arm. When his wife to be finally did awaken he sat beside her with a small smile. His hand slowly roamed her body, finding the many bruises that had formed from where the blasters had met their mark. He pressed a finger into them teasingly while speaking to her. "Good morning Saraya."

"Sore?" He asked her, before running a finger along her cheek. "I hope you're ready for the next phase in your training. It won't be as easy as yesterday was." He said, a small smile coming to his lips.​

 

[Saraya Arenais]

E V E R Y T H I N G​

T A G | Adron Malvern

A soft pout pulled her lower lip down a little at his response. Her body would likely be unable to take another four hours of the intense training scenario, but her mind was more than ready. Still, arguing with Adron was not something Saraya could even imagine. So, instead, she settled against him and allowed his sultry words to wash over her in calming waves.

When he posed his question, her amethyst gaze was drawn to his face, though she did not respond. She followed the line his fingers drew to the tear-shaped brand on her chest. What he asked had already been answered in Saraya’s mind. A thousand times over, in a million languages, through both screams and whispers. There was nothing in the entire galaxy that could have torn her from his side. Not love, not family, not even death.

“Adron…” She breathed out as his kisses peppered the length of her arm. Each one made her squirm in his lap. Each one sent a shiver of desire running down her spine. “Don’t you know?” She quizzed the top of his head as she leant down to press her own kisses into the wafts of ebony hair. “All you need is to ask.” When she pulled back to meet his gaze, a serious expression had befallen her face. She wanted him to know the truth behind her words. “To be with you, I would sacrifice everything.” It wasn’t enough to simply say the words, so Saraya stretched her fingers out to capture his cheek in a tender hold.

“There is nothing you could ask of me that I would not willingly give. If you asked me to spill my blood for you, or sacrifice my life, I would hold the blade myself. Glady.” The words were whispered, almost as though Saraya was afraid they would shatter as she spoke them. Perhaps it was the truth of them that scared her. She had once decided that it did not matter whether or not Adron manipulated her for his own gain. She did not care if his use for her ended in a year, or a month, or a day. She would stay by his side, always. Until the moment he no longer wanted her.

When that moment came, life would lose all meaning, and if it was what he wished… she would end it all. Everything she was had been his, the second they caught each other’s gaze from across the ballroom. The blood in her veins, the heart that pumped it, the soul that put life in her eyes. Everything. She caught his lips in a passionate kiss filled with emotion that told him far more than her words could.

Saraya had not realised just how hungry she was, or how tired until Adron began to move again. She could only just manage to nod her head and accept the hand he offered. The next few hours went by in a faster blur than the training session had, but by the time Adron had finished with her, she collapsed into a sleep that bordered on the edges of death.

~ ~ ~ ~​

It was a tender tickling sensation along her arm that finally drew her from the depths of sleep. “Mm-...” She began to groan in protest, but a sharp prod against one of the thousands of purple marks littering her flesh forced out a gasp of pain and pleasure instead. Reluctantly, she lifted her head from the pillow and ran her fingers through the curls that dangled in her view. “Good morning.” She replied, lips turned up in an enamoured smile as she rolled over to curl up against him.

When she was finally able to convince her eyes to open, she was greeted with merciless rays of bright orange sun. “Sore doesn’t begin to cover it.” Her emerald gaze turned on her fiancé with a curious expression on her face. “Yesterday was easy?” Every part of her body screamed as she forced herself to sit up, silk sheets fluttering free of her form. She couldn’t contain the groans of pain that slipped from her lips as she stretched each of her limbs in turn.

Saraya was more than ready. It went without saying, but she doubted her ability to do anything when it currently hurt to even breathe. She shuffled a little to turn and look at Adron, a curtain of wavey chocolate brown hair splayed out to block out the strong light. “What do you have planned?”

 

[Adron Malvern]

M O V E​

Tags: Saraya Arenais ​

What do you have planned?

Her words were met with a slight smile but no words were offered in response to her question. His hand came to her chin, running a single finger along it with a soft smile. He enjoyed how impossibly soft her skin was, the warmth that came from below it only made it that much more splendid. He held her chin as he leaned down to press a kiss to her temple. "Let us get dressed and have breakfast." This was the only response he allowed his beloved.

"Now it is time for you to learn just how to move with the Force." He said with a soft smile before rising from the bed.

The King enjoyed his time with his Queen to be. They arose from the bed and after bathing themselves, and likely each other, they turned their minds towards breakfast. A morning meal had been prepared by the kitchens. Wonderful meats, cheeses, breads, and fruits had been laid out for the two to partake in, along with hot cafe and tea as they wished it. The meal came and went pleasantly, the two enjoying the small talk that usually consisted of their joy for one another along with the King continually updating his Queen on all his dealings and directions he was pursuing.

After the meal had ended and the two had allowed their food to rest, Adron led Saraya down the palace's corridor's to the palace's main hall. As they walked through the hall, passing those dignitaries, lords, and servants of the palace who were handling their official business the King spoke to his Queen about the Force more. "The Force can be used to augment your body. It can make you stronger, faster, more agile. However these techniques must be honed, practiced, and mastered. If you do not devote yourself to creating a union between the Force and the body then it will be nothing compared to your true potential." The two of them made their way to the Royal Guard barracks. It was where their own guardians devoted themselves to training and honing their talents. It was also the closest training hall that was built to Adron's very particular specifications.

They found themselves in a strange hall, slightly narrow with a very peculiar feature. The ceilings, the floor, and the walls were all filled with a number of miniature rows. Along the rows were small marble sized sphered crafted from an ebony material. Adron stepped to the side while looking back to Saraya.

"This chamber is designed to test your ability to move using the Force. These spheres you see project razor-thin wires of Phrik. If they so much as touch you..." Just then a wire shot out from the ceiling, attaching to the small sphere on the floor. Adron brought his hand up, gently pressing it into the wire. Slowly a thin red bead formed along his palm, flowing down the length of the wire and giving it a crimson stain. The man smiled softly as he glanced over at the crimson trail that flowed from his hand, leaving red droplets on the floor behind him.

"Stand in the center of the chamber. First you will only have to dodge a single wire." He told her with a rather interested smile on his face. "Do not falter, it will be pain." He promised her.​

 

[Saraya Arenais]

C A N ' T - T O U C H - T H I S​

T A G | Adron Malvern

Saraya was not normally the type of woman who was fond of surprises, but the more Adron surprised her, the more she found herself falling in love with them.

She did not protest at the lack of information. Merely leaning in instead to meet the kiss he placed on her forehead. If there had been any moment she could freeze in time, it would have been this one. The two of them alone together, having shared the day and the night. It was too perfect for words, but her love was not idle in any sense. His soft voice eventually coaxed her from the warm embrace of the sheets and into the refresher to begin the day.

After an extremely pleasant bath, and a rather filling meal, the couple found themselves once more pacing the halls of Dragonne Palace. It was much more alive in the day than it had been a night. They passed by numerous nobles, guards, servants, all manner of people, but just as it had been at night… Saraya only had eyes for Adron.

There was an infinite source of potentials within the force, and Saraya was aware that last night was merely the tip of a very large iceberg. If she could raise tables and see blind, then she could do what Adron was speaking of too. When she finally paid attention to where they had been walking, Saraya realised she had never seen this part of the castle before. It made sense once they passed the threshold, and Saraya realised they were in the middle of the guard’s barracks. However, they didn’t stop there.

Adron carried on until they found themselves in a hallway that could only just fit the two of them in shoulder to shoulder. As Adron spoke, Saraya trailed her gaze over the entire room. She was only drawn back to look at her fiancé when the coppery scent of blood began to fill the room. His pain was hers, as hers was his. Though she had not been looking, she felt every ounce of pressure he placed on the phrik wire until it sliced clean through his flesh. Then she felt the keen sting as oxygen lapped at the wound. It made her sink her teeth gently into her lower lip.

“Hmm…” Her sweet tone expressed its hesitation, but that was the only place she displayed it.

Before her body could catch up with her mind’s reluctance, she dove forward to the centre of the room and turned to face Adron. Before now, before yesterday, Saraya would have waited with bated breath for the wires to begin, but not today. She used her singular moment of safety to focus. To pour her energy into summoning the darkness she had managed to briefly master the day before. The pain, the frustration, the anger… it all came flooding back in the same dominating shadow that she had known behind the blindfold.

The first indication of movement was a nearly imperceptible hum that Saraya had to strain to hear. Much like yesterday, she did not rely on her sight. It was far from flawless, and as of yesterday, Saraya trusted it far less than she trusted the force.

A strong instinct coaxed her into moving, and Saraya took what she assumed would be a single step forward to dodge the oncoming wire. The force threw her forward far faster than the measured pace she had attempted. A harsh gust of wind bit at her cheeks with cold teeth and blew the chocolate brown hair from her shoulders. Had she expected it to be followed by pain? By the wire sinking into the back of her calves? Beyond a doubt.

But the lack of it did not throw her off her stride.

Just like dancing.

Only, the steps were not planned. The music was the erratic hiss as the wire cut through the air. The only participant was Saraya.

Yet, she was no less elegant and graceful on this dance floor as she was in any other. There were a few moments when she felt a hot rush of heat against her skin. Where the wire had almost found its mark, but she was one step ahead the entire time. Dancing to the tune of her heartbeat.

When the wire finally stopped, drawing itself back to its starting position, Saraya was almost disappointed. She stepped backwards slowly, as though she expected it to start again, but the disappointment was cemented when it stayed stationary. Saraya’s amethyst gaze turned on to Adron. Her cheeks were flushed a scarlet red, and strands of her hair stuck out wildly, but she managed to present him a radiant smile. “I thought you said this was going to be harder.” Her breathless tone teased as she stepped forward, capturing his hand in hers.

The stream of crimson had begun to dry and flake on his skin, but the wound itself was still raw. She leant forward to press a single kiss onto the angry flesh. A sour, tangy taste washed over her lips. As she pulled back there was a daring expression sparkling in the pits of her purple eyes. “Challenge me.”

 

[Adron Malvern]

PHRIK WIRES​

Tags: Saraya Arenais ​

Fly.

The moment Saraya stepped off from where she stood the King's eyes quirked with interest. Her movements were precise and no matter how hard the wire flowed around her, it did not find its mark. He watched as the woman's form shifted and danced with the metal strand. The wire would catch a light here and there, making it slightly more visible but even for Adron it was hard to keep track of. Yet Saraya had given herself to the Force and that was her ally. She dodged the wire perfectly and after a few minutes of the dance, there was a soft beep to echo out from the chamber. Slowly and deliberately the wire was drawn back to its beginning position.

The King's lips curled into a smile as his Lady approached him. She took his hand into her own, pressing her supple lips to the crimson mark. Her words caused the man to loft a brow. There it was.

The pride of a Malvern. He smiled at her challenge.

"Pride is power, but do not become overconfident." He glanced down to his hand before walking over to a nearby panel on the wall. He tapped a number of commands into the console before turning back to his wife to be. "Now you will bleed so much of your pretty red blood, my dear." He warned her. In that moment, where the single wire had been, several of the spheres fired off wires matching the first. Now there were three in total which began to spiral around the woman menacingly.

The Sith Lord smirked softly as he felt the Dark Side of the Force course within him. His amethyst eyes gazed over to Saraya with interest. "This will hurt." ​

 

[Saraya Arenais]

B L E E D​

T A G | Adron Malvern

Saraya could not help but smirk. For Adron to preach to anyone about pride was the biggest irony in the entire galaxy. Fortunately for him, Saraya loved his ego. She loved how untouchable he made himself seem to others, how confident and infallible. Of course, she knew the real Adron underneath it all too. The face he only revealed to her. There was still pride in that face, but it was far less pronounced. She loved both parts of him equally.

“Do you say that to yourself too?” Saraya asked, her tone littered with a playful giggle.

Her lower lip turned into a mock pout when he spoke again, but she dutifully moved into the middle of the corridor to start again. If yesterday was anything to go off, Saraya had no doubt that it was about to get much more difficult.

When the spheres began again, there was not one but three. One had been simple. She could not map its matters but she knew the moment she moved it would come for her again. Despite the corridor being narrow, there were plenty of places for her to go where the wire was not. However, there were three now. Where she moved, there would always be another.

In that moment, that brief singular moment, Saraya panicked. All her focus shattered around her, and instead of attempting to regain it, she lost herself. The first wire came so quickly she barely had time to register it. The taut phrik string sliced cleanly through the top of her arm, opening a deep wound that streamed crimson liquid that immediately soaked her clothes. She did not cry out, but the pain made her clench her jaw and steel her nerves.

The second wire she did attempt to dodge, but it was just as Adron had said. Her original confidence had been her undoing, and the first wound only cemented the fact that she had failed. It did not cut as deep as the first. Yet there was still another overwhelming burn against her calf as it sunk into the flesh and poured out a second river of blood. This time she did cry out. A rather un-ladylike word that was lost in the hum of the orbs as they cut swiftly through the air toward her.

As the third and final wire hummed violently toward her at breakneck speeds, Saraya tried to regain her focus. She tried to use the burning pains in her legs and arms to force it, but she was still a fraction of a second too late. It bit harshly into her waist. When it came away again, her blood had tinted the wire the same scarlet colour that covered her skin. She wanted to cry out to him, to beg him to stop, but she had already told him that weakness was not in her repertoire. That was no less true today than it had been yesterday.

Her failure would not melt into weakness here.

The cuts would not stop her from trying.

Saraya braced herself for whatever was coming next.

 

[Adron Malvern]

SIX​

Tags: Saraya Arenais ​

Crimson flecks of blood flew into the air.

The Sith Lord's eyes were harsh and judging as his lover worked to dodge the metallic wires. She had allowed her overconfidence to weaken her. The gaze he offered her would reflect that, it would reflect one of the emotions the Sith Lord was exceptional at conveying.

Disappointment.

He would be sure she saw the expression, so then perhaps she would turn her mind to the task at hand. If not then she would soon be cut to bloody ribbons. He watched as the three wires disengaged from the woman, dancing around her menacingly once again. The King's eyes found Saraya and as the blood dripped from her body he spoke out. "We cannot suffer weakness." He told her. As the wires danced about, a number of soft pops began to erupt. Three more wires fired out from their host, joining the first three in their menacing dance.

Then, they would strike against her, all six sharpened wires aimed to press into Saraya's precious skin. ​

 

[Saraya Arenais]

C A R V E​

T A G | Adron Malvern

Saraya did not need to turn to know the look that had dominated Adron’s face. Nor would she suffer the consequences of it with her own eyes. Even the sensation of it, washing over the hairs on the back of her neck, was enough to cut her deep. Far deeper than any of the wires that had already sliced through her flesh. She was not a disappointment, and she was far from weak.

By the time the wires came for her again, there was more than pain swirling in her mind.

She was angry.

Furious would have been more of an apt word.

Had she not proved herself several times over already? There had not been a single mark upon her body before she had met Adron. Her mother had ensured it. Now her skin was littered with bruises as purple as the eyes that bore into her soul, a teardrop-shaped brand that burned at the mere mention of his name, and now these…

The first wire skimmed the side of her face as she attempted to dodge it, leaving a clean line of angry red flesh across her cheek. She did not seem to notice. There was pain, but no more than what she was already suffering. Instead of allowing it to overwhelm her, she relished in it. This was no different from the pain she willingly allowed him to exert on her. That pain was pleasurable, and it gave her strength. The cut on her face was the same. As fresh air bit aggressively into the raw wound Saraya finally gained control.

A ruthless onslaught of attacks from the spheres seemed never-ending, but she was fuelled by an endless well of power. By her sheer determination to prove him wrong. Each wire that came for her was avoided. Each one that came close to biting in reminded her.

It was almost perfect.

Almost.

As she bent backwards in mid-air to avoid two wires that swiped for her chest, a third swept underneath her. It drew a long, deep, diagonal line from her waist up to her shoulder. For a brief moment, her concentration faltered and she fell sickeningly through the air toward the floor. Before she could do any lasting damage to herself, she cushioned the blow with a bubble of force. Landing her knees, it was not nearly enough to stop the shock of pain that buzzed through her bones as she hit the ground.

An ear-piercing scream of frustration filled the narrow corridor as Saraya reached out to meet an oncoming wire with her open palm. It got close enough to nip the webbing of her thumb, to take one final taste of fresh blood, but no further. For a moment or two, it seemed to struggle against some unseen force. An immovable wall that prevented it from reaching what it truly sought. Saraya closed her hand, but by the time her fingers met the waterfall of blood streaming from the cut, the wire had moved.

The mechanisms that powered it seemed to cry out in frustration as it fought against the force that pulled it back against its will. Another scream flooded the room as the taut line between two spheres whipped across the corridor, tangling itself around the other wires as it went. Before too long, they were a mass of indistinguishable metal and scarlet tainted phrik, but her aggression did not stop there.

The force swallowed her entire being as her other hand lifted to join the first in manipulating the twisted mass. Each time the spheres smacked into the metal wall something inside shattered until plumes of black smoke poured from its centre. She did not stop until she saw the spark of flame licking the cracks in the spheres that she had not crushed already.

That was when Saraya finally let it fall.

She barely heard the sound it made as it crashed into the ground. She only felt the shadow that had been formed by pain, anger, lust, and greed. Placing a blood-stained hand against the wall, Saraya willed herself to stand. Every part of her body hated it, but the hate her heart harboured for being seen as weak far out-weight any physical pain. Technically, she had cheated, but something Adron had asked only the night before rung clearly in her mind. When you have a hundred avenues to choose from and only one vehicle, which do avenue do you chose? The answer was simple.

You make your own.​

 

[Adron Malvern]

V I C T O R Y​

Tags: Saraya Arenais ​

What was the old saying?

There was more than one way to skin a cat. As if sensing his disappointment, Saraya had lashed out in the Force. He watched as the woman's outstretched hand caught the wire in a stern grip of the Force. His arms came down from across his chest. He blinked, glancing down to his opened hands with an almost frustrated expression. Saraya had not shown any sign that she would yield to the wire so the King truly believed it would slice her in twain. It did not, through her own power it did not. Still, he had moved regardless. Why?

Fear. His hands tightened into fists as he exhaled, pushing the thought from his mind. So soon he was gaining a fear for her harm? These bruises, cuts, and fractures meant nothing. Damage to a physical being that was more than prepared to intake them. Yet he would not toil with her life quite like he did all of his other apprentices. Of course he could not allow her to know this. A Sith is born in power, not nurture. Again she exploded out and the wire flew back, screaming against the actions that tore it against it's track until finally it found its metallic brothers.

The metal wires hissed as they wrapped and tangled into one another, causing a sick scene of metal and blood. In some ways it looked like a twisted art project. His eyes remained fastened on the display for a fraction of a moment before he turned to Saraya and approached her. Although she had technically failed the exercise, she had succeeded in drawing on the Force to defend her, a victory in it's own right.

He stood over his bride to be, a single hand stretched out to press into one of the hairline cuts. As blood leaked from the cut over his finger he couldn't help but bring the finger to his lips, cleaning the crimson stain from his finger, all the while his eyes never left the woman before him. "Well done." He held a hand out to Saraya, as if offering to help her. When her hand fell into his own the Dark Side screamed out around them. He could feel it surging through her and he used it, refocused it. Wisps of dark-amethyst shadow lashed out form their joined hands. The first swiped across her cheek. It would sting, not unlike the wires but when it faded the wound that had been opened there faded with it. The same action repeated over her body, where cut cloth and blood had ran red were now little more than parts of her body stained with the crimson memory of fresh blood.

"Force Body is not an easy technique, but over time you will master it. Now, let us go and get you cleaned up, my Queen."

My Queen. Official or not it was clear that the man accepted Saraya as his Queen, as his dark mistress. ​