Games and Thrones

[Chevu Visz]

Naomi waited for her Mistress in her private chambers in the opulent palace of the House of Adasca on Arkania. Lady Arcana was scheduled to return via her personal shuttle from Onderon any minute now. The young handmaid surmised that her Mistress would be tired and perhaps a bit space-lagged from her journey. Plus, it couldn't be easy dealing with all the ridiculous bureaucracy that her Mistress had to endure as Senator of Arkania. Naomi would make sure her Mistress had everything she desired tonight. The handmaid could not help but feel intensely proud of Lady Adasca for all of her work in ensuring that Arkania was well-represented in the Galactic Senate. With Arkania's precious resources such as its plentiful diamond mines, the influence of the Arkanian people was coveted by the Republic in order to keeping galactic trade flowing as smoothly as those icy rivers that cut through Arkania's tundras.

There were fresh-cut blossoms in china vases set out all around her Mistresses' private chambers, as well as a roaring fire in the fireplace. The chill of Arkania's nights could freeze a person to the bone, and Naomi would be karked if her Mistress caught her death while she was sleeping.

The human handmaid had been waiting on her Mistress since they both were children, and although Naomi was her faithful servant, Lady Adasca was more like a friend or a sister to her. After all, even a noblewoman's immediate circle of influencers were not privy to the types of secrets that a lady told her handmaid.

[member="Arcana Adasca"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Jorda Ulluto"]

The Senate was equally bewildering and baffling in its functionality, the things she had heard, the things that had been said, it all made Arcana question the wisdom in being allied to an entity that was guided by people such as that. The Senators didn’t seem to be knowledgeable about anything, they spoke without thinking, making rash judgement calls and decisions without the proper support of aides and advisors and in the end they proposed and/or defended bills with claims that were bordering towards the nonsensical.

It was as if she had entered some kind of twilight zone, part of her wondered if it had been the real Senate. Perhaps someone had been playing a cruel joke with her and was simply playing some kind of trick with her, even that would have made more sense than the joke displayed these past few weeks on Onderon.

They were slowly approaching Arkania, the one pearl in the Galaxy that made her feel that perhaps this wasn’t all for naught. The Lady Adasca would protect the interests of her planet, and she would keep doing that even if it meant to keep listening to the ramblings of cavemen and idiots.

She sighed softly and rubbed her temples, circular motions to push away the coming headache.

‘How long?’

‘We are almost there, Your Ladyship.’

The sacrifices one has to make.

 

[Chevu Visz]

The handmaiden clothed herself in a luxurious Velusian fursnake wrap, a lifeday gift from her Mistress. Naomi was treated very well by the House of Adasca, almost like a member of the family. In fact, many guests who visited the palace thought Naomi was Lady Adasca’s adopted sister. Despite the House’s acceptance, her dark eyes and dark hair always made Naomi self-consciously aware of her caste among the pure-blooded family. Still she couldn’t complain, when others out there in the galaxy were starving, and she was well-fed.

The palace felt way too quiet without Lady Adasca to keep her company. Even if her role was a servile one, she always enjoyed spending time with her Mistress. As Naomi helped the lovely Arkanian get dressed and coil her silky white hair in twin buns, she would find herself deeply entertained by all of the riotous political gossip that her Lady shared. From the Lady’s stories, Naomi wasn’t sure that she herself would ever have the patience to endure the insufferable idiocy of the Galactic Senate. She would probably end up punching someone, and that wouldn’t reflect too well on the noble House of Adasca.

With her heart leaping in anticipation, Naomi descended the palace’s main staircase, tracing her hand along the ornate bannister. She took her place with the other servants, standing in the foyer, ready to receive Lady Adasca as she returned home.

[member="Arcana Adasca"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Naomi Nin"]

Perhaps she shouldn’t have been so surprised of the state of the Senate, perhaps she should have expected such a downturn in effectivity and general aptitude of the mind, it was no coincidence that the Republic was losing the war and losing it for six years straight. But that was a discussion for another time, a different time when the transport wasn’t about to settle itself on the landing platform close to the courtyard of the ancestral palace of the House Adasca.

The Lady Adasca stepped out of the transport and even though she was wearing the warmest and most comfortable clothing money could afford, she still couldn’t help but note the intense cold that was spread around her. This did not agitate her though, because she was the noble scion of Adasca and had been born and raised here.

Through her blood flowed the royal blood of the Arkanian Purebloods and the chilling frost only reminded her of the legacy that was settled on her shoulders when she turned twenty one years old and it filled her with pride.

Her personal guards filed out around and escorted her towards the Palace itself, where she entered the foyer; greeted by her staff. A sight which put one of her rare smiles on her delicate features and made her give them a slight inclination of the head.

Acknowledgment of their long years of loyalty.

‘Naomi, I do so hope that my chambers are ready? I will need a hot bath after this week’s debacle.’

 

[Chevu Visz]

Oftentimes, Naomi had to restrain herself from touching her Mistress out of turn, and this was one of those times. The sight of the beautiful noblewoman with her snowy white eyes, and voluptuous figure, filled her with the urge to take the woman in her arms. She found herself wishing she could tilt her head in and lay kisses along her Mistress' swan-like neck and further down the dip of her defined collarbone. Instead, the handmaiden took a deep breath and buried her impure thoughts about Arcana. She was her faithful servant and should act as such. Her duty was to make sure Lady Adasca was catered to with the utmost attention to detail.

"Yes, a bath is drawn, Lady Adasca," she said, a demure smile on her lips, as she took the Arkanian noble woman's coat and gave it to the butler. "I'm looking forward to hearing some of your stories about what inane laws those esteem galactic senators have cooked up now. If you ask me, the galaxy is in a sad state if such fools can get elected in the first place."

Naomi walked slightly ahead of Lady Adasca to make sure that nothing in her private chambers was out of place. The handmaiden would be embarrassed if her lady came home to find out that she had been secretly sleeping in the noblewoman's bed while she was away. The palace got lonely and cold at night, and Arcana's bed gave her a strange sort of comfort that she couldn't quite explain. Well, comfort wasn't exactly the right word was it?

[member="Arcana Adasca"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Naomi Nin"]

Surprisingly the always observant and astute Lady of Adasca was wholly unaware of the desires of her servant, Ninny and her had been part of each other’s life for a very long time now, as little girls they had been inseparable. In some ways they had been sisters, confidantes and friends that they couldn’t have in the other kids of the court, but in the end Arcana Adasca was of noble blood and her head was entirely focused on other manners.

She was completely oblivious, but perhaps that was the entire point of the exercise. Arkana nodded pleased with the mention that a bath was ready and followed Naomi in a relaxed posture, trying to drone out the memories that came back of the Senate.

Idiots.

“The things I could tell you, my dear.” she finally replied, entering the room proper and noting with pleasure that the fire was already roaring and the vases had new flowers. “Oh Ninny, you really know how to pamper me.”

Arkana walked to the window and looked out over the planes, snowy, icy and a hailing wind. But all of it was hers and so it was beautiful.

 

[Chevu Visz]

"I'm all ears, my Lady," laughed the handmaiden. "You'll have to forgive me if the antics of our fine senators make me roll my eyes so hard, that I break something."

Naomi's heels clicked on the marble floors as she strode to the bathroom. The House of Adasca had the finest technology in all of the palace's many lavishly-decorated bathrooms, and Lady Adasca's oversized tub contained soothing jets on all sides for vigorous massage therapy. Naomi checked that the bathwater was hot enough and then lit some sandalwood incense, placing it carefully around the room so that the smell wasn't overpowering to her Mistress while she relaxed.

She returned to the Arkanian noblewoman, holding a silk kimono. Lady Adasca was gazing out the window, looking out over estate with pride. In all the years that Naomi had known her Mistress, she had not known her lady to take many suitors. The handmaiden surmised that perhaps, her lack of a mate simply meant that Arkania itself was her true love.

"I have your robe ready, Lady Adasca. Can I help you out of your clothing?"

[member="Arcana Adasca"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Naomi Nin"]

Many suitors? There had been none.

The Lady of Adasca had never been interested in men presented by her dearest Father, back in those days Lord Adasca had still been sure that his wife would grant him a sweet boy, a future man to take on the mantle of his title and push Arkania towards the future. But things didn’t ever go as planned, and much the same could be said about this plan.

Her mother had never given him the boy he had so desired and in the end it was she who had inherited the mantle, her rationality knew that in the end? She would need to pick a man, to carry a child and produce offspring for House Adasca.

Or perhaps not… there were other options, no?

“Of course.” Arcana replied out of a haze of memories, still pondering on that little option that was currently popping up in her mind. She would allow her to undress her and wrap her up in the robe, before being ushered over to the bath.

“Before that though, I assume there have been no problems or outstanding issues? All has been well?”

 

[Chevu Visz]

"No problems whatsoever, my lady," said Naomi, first removing the wrap that was draped over Arcana's shapely shoulders, then beginning on the buttons down the front of her dress.

"The great ship that is the House of Adasca sails right along without a hitch." she looked up into those glistening white pools and smiled.

There was no need for Lady Adasca to know that Naomi just sat around watching Holosoaps and playing around on Spacebook while she was gone. As the Arkanian noblewoman's servant, there simply wasn't much to do while the lady was away. Boredom soon set in, and subsequently, she found herself in Arcana's room, resting her head on the lady's pillow and moving her hands over the folds of her own slip, thinking indulgent thoughts. Whether or not she should be thinking those thoughts about her Mistress was debatable. There certainly wasn’t a law against it, but the woman was her employer, so somehow it didn’t seem proper to Naomi. Still, the more she tried not to think them, the more the thoughts persisted, growing up like nettles in a chaste garden, and finally, the handmaiden decided to simply give in to them.

She carefully helped Lady Adasca out of her dress, and then let her dark eyes drop to the woman’s shapely figure. A bloom of red appeared on her face as she breathlessly handed the noblewoman her robe. Suddenly embarrassed, she looked away and scurried to the bathroom to wait there for Arcana.

[member="Arcana Adasca"]