Private The Crimson Coronation | Talak Jenste

[Saraya Arenais]

L O C A T I O N | Theed, Naboo​

W E A R I N G | [x]​

T A G S | Talak Jenste ​

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The energy on Theed was nothing to Mila, at first. A mere consequence of necessary action. Irritating though it began to grow, it was needed. Naboo needed to mourn. It needed to remember, as did her people. It just seemed such a shame that her reign had begun with such tragedy. Naboo would not soon forget its almost Queen Karia, and that meant they would not soon consider Mila as a suitable replacement. ​

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Sharp jolting taps invaded her ears as Mila swept down to the corridor toward the throne room. This would be the first time she’d seen it since the untimely death of her predecessor. The first time she would enter it as Queen. It was almost enough to draw her short of the gilded double doors, to turn around and walk away entirely, but Mila was stronger than she allowed herself to appear. With the flat of her shoulder, she pushed the doors open, allowing a flood of bright sunlight streaming through the windows in the throne room to fill the dim corridor.​

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From the outset, it was unassuming. A large, plain room with nought but a few chairs and a throne in the centre, but the power it possessed. The respect it commanded. The sheer responsibility that this room alone held… it was enough to crumble any great man. ​

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Fortunately for Mila, she was not a man. Nor did she consider herself great. Not yet. But still the throne room somehow managed to make her feel like an ant at the foot of a mountain. It filled her with the same dread too. How could she ever hope to fill it? How could she ever hope to make her mark on the world, as others did before her? Slipping by the doors, Mila felt as though the pressure in the room tripled as they shut behind her. It was as though the doors had been shut to a part of her she wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye to yet.​

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Mila the Princess. Mila the second best. Mila the almost Queen. ​

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The young woman approached her throne. Cautiously. As though it were a dog on its hind legs, baring its teeth in an aggressive display. What a fool you look. Frightened of a chair. Mila’s voice was cruel in her own head. Brutal, if one was looking for a better-suited word to describe it. Brutal, but motivational. She finally strode forward, each step that drew her closer to the throne more confident than the last. But…​

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Something stopped her. At the edge of the throne, where she could simply reach out and touch the cool stone it was carved from, Mila stopped. ​

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“Violet!” The young Queen’s voice echoed loudly off the marble walls, back and forth. A perfect imitation of the sweet, naïve tones she spoke in. The scuffle of someone’s feet against polished floors followed quickly until the bright and cheery face of a young woman appeared from behind the double doors. “Yes, Your Majesty?” Mila managed to coerce a smile onto her face. The same smile she would have flashed a bustling crowd or a gathering of the council. The one she wore that hid the darkness beneath. “Do you happen to know where Talak is?” ​

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The young servant shrugged her shoulders lightly, though not in a disrespectful way. "I'm afraid not, ma'am." Mila sighed a little. It wasn't loud enough to be heard, but her refusal to take her gaze off the throne spoke volumes. “Would you be so kind as to find him for me?” Before the sentence had even been drawn to a conclusion, the young girl had dashed off to do her mistresses bidding. ​

 

[Talak Jenste]

TAG: Saraya Arenais

While the handmaiden of the new Queen went off to do her bidding, she indeed did find him and in short order, she, like most, knew Talak to be a creature of habit. She had located him in his quarters in the palace reading over intelligence reports and security assessments regarding the late Queens unfortunate demise. It was reckless, it also brought undue attention both upon himself and Mila. When the knock at the door came he lifted his eyes to look at it and simply spoke a single word.

“Enter” The door opened and a young handmaiden, Violet if he recalled correctly stepped through and spoke to him, informing him that the Queen had asked after him, if there was any displeasure in being summoned he did not give voice to it and instead simply rose from his seat, setting the datapad down as he did while moving toward the door. He simply nodded to the woman and sent her on about her duties.

The walk to the throne room was not far but he did not hasten his steps, the towering figure marched silently through the brightly lit corridor, the only sound that would be heard was his heavy footfalls. The title of Sith invoked a certain image, the well dressed and well-kept man did not convey the typical image. If anything he appeared to the untrained as an older gentleman who might not harm anybody but beneath the facade was the decades of combat and training that had built him into the weapon he now was.

When he finally approached the doors, they slowly opened with the gentle tug of the force and as he walked through them they closed by the same manner that they had opened, he stopped a few feet from Mila, and folded his hands behind his back as he studied the moment, only steps away but she paused with a smile he strode up beside her and without looking he spoke quietly so only she could hear.

“Now you hesitate? You sought power, rightfully so, you have the ambition worthy of a Queen. You lack patience but still, you carried out a plot that would make assassins and the Sith of old take note and approve. Take what you want Mila, it is yours.”

 

[Saraya Arenais]

L O C A T I O N | Theed, Naboo​

W E A R I N G | [x]​

T A G S | Talak Jenste ​

Once the doors had closed again, the silence in the throne room was deafening. Every soft groan of floorboards in the distance, every gust of wind as it smacked against the windows, every creak and moan the palace made as it settled on ancient foundations. It all felt amplified in the emptiness. As though the palace itself were mocking her for being so afraid. Mila closed her eyes, determined if nothing else to shut out the blinding light that made it all so much worse. ​

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This throne had seated so many who had made such an impact on Naboo it almost had a life of its own. She could hear the swirling storm of conversations gone by flitting in one ear and out the other. Ethereal in tone and spectral in nature. Hoards of Queens and councillors gone by shouting and screaming their advice at the young Queen, rising to a cacophony that was almost unbearable. Mila clamped her hands over her ears, content to sit in the sound of her own blood rushing through her eardrums. She put so much pressure on them she was almost fearful they would shatter, but… ​

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Mila was relieved to hear the ginger creak of hinges as Talak pushed the door open. His demanding presence immediately chased the demons away, though she knew better than to think them entirely gone. ​

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“It isn’t.” It was easier to guess that she was still a young woman by the frustration that had built up in her voice. It was unabashed and unashamed. Projected so confidently it almost seemed at home mixed in with her honied tones. She had nothing to hide in front of Talak like she did so many others. Talak, thus far, was the only person Mila had felt comfortable being herself around. “Not yet.” She finished off, with more dismay now than frustration. Mila reached a hand out toward the throne, until her fingers pressed against the cool, carved stone.​

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“They still love her, revere her. There are so many out there who are still as loyal to her as the day she was elected. As though she’d had time to accomplish anything of worth.” Mila’s face fell somewhat, though she still hadn’t turned to look at Talak. Karia was, apart from being Mila’s predecessor, some source of irritation and annoyance to the now Queen. Mila had been just as charming, just as knowledgeable, just as willing to bend over backwards for the people of Naboo. Yet they had still chosen her. “I have come this far, but I fear going further. How can I hope to compete with the shadow of a dead woman still lingering over me like a plague? How can I even hope to compare?” ​

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She finally turned, on the tip of her heel, to face her guide. Though there was little written on her face save the frustration she had readily expressed, Talak was one of the few who knew her inside and out. One of the few who knew the face she wore in public was but a mask. He would know how she felt, without Mila haven’t to formulate the words to express it. ​

 

[Talak Jenste]

TAG: Saraya Arenais

Talak the once Sith Lord was no stranger to murder and death perhaps that is why Mila had felt that such a plan would be simple and have little in way of consequences, she was wrong but most who had never taken a life would know that. Through the years of serving as her mentor and guide, he had surprisingly grown close to the young woman and her frustration was readily noticeable to him, likely why she called for him no doubt. When she turned he lifted a hand uncharacteristically and laid it gently against her cheek in a reassuring manner, his hand was not soft and gentle but hard and scarred from years of violence but all the same, the gesture was what it was meant to be kind and understanding.

“You make a mistake in trying to compete with the dead, they will always be honored, remembered, and held in the hearts of those who esteemed them. What you seek is not to replace them, but to rise above and be greater. As you say she had very little time, none really to even set anything into motion.” he took a step back and withdrew his hand before motioning down the throne room to the massive doors that guests would normally move through, artwork reliefs and statues of rulers from bygone eras.

“Instead, embrace the tragedy. Immortalize the dead even more, sing her praise and lament her passing as the people do. Champion their grief and become their guiding light, their salvation. If you can do this, you will be greater than any Queen before her and enjoy the adoration that follows with it” for a Sith Lord manipulating the masses simply took strategy and patience for a young Queen however it would take much more, overcoming the emotions that weighed her down. “You are Queen Mila, I can show you a path and encourage you but you must choose what happens” turning to look at her once more met her eyes for a moment before giving a firm nod. “So what will you do?”

 

[Saraya Arenais]

O L D - F R I E N D S​

Tag: Talak Jenste​

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Mila nodded, relishing in the warmth that his time-worn hands spread through her cheeks. Rare was the sight of Talak's more amicable, softer side. Even after they had grown close, but his display of affection could not soften the truth of his words. Her mentor was right, as usual. The dead would forever be remembered, forever admonished in an untainted light. What matters was whether Mila could be greater. Whether she could rise and meet the challenges they had left behind. When his hand left her, so did the comfort it provided.

When Talak asked a question of her, Mila met him with a cryptic response. “I already chose. With that one decision I made my bed, and now it seems I must lie in it...”

A suspicious gaze was cast quickly around the throne room, lingering on the thick eggshell columns that kept the roof from crumbling in on itself. When she was content that they were entirely alone, Mila flicked a silver encrusted wrist through the air. A shimmering bubble of milk-white liquid began to encase them, its walls stretching to kiss the marble floor like a waterfall to dirt. It was a neat little trick that Talak had taught her almost the minute they had been introduced, offering them total privacy from prying ears, regardless of whether they were tech or attached to someone's head.

“This all seems foolish..” She said with a frustrated sigh. “The Throne, the title, all of it. It's just symbolic pomp... I already took what I wanted. True, sitting in it makes it real, I suppose. Tangible. But that isn't why I hesitate.” Mila pressed her lips together, glancing uneasily from the throne to Talak and back. The weight of ruling an entire planet home to millions of lives was one thing, but there was another weight on the young Queen's shoulders far, far heavier than that. “Did I make a mistake?” Her honeyed tone had melted away, into nothing but the sorrowful curiosity of a child too afraid to truly hear the answer. It made her seem ten years her junior. “I feel no regret for what I did, yet I can't help but fear what it has set into motion. What if I never get the chance to champion grief and be a guiding light?”

Without taking her eyes from the throne, she motioned to the circle of marble set in front of it, a table that mostly remained empty until the council came into session.

Today, however, it was home to a small personal datapad. For a moment, its screen was nothing but a raven reflection of the ceiling above, but at the motion of Mila's hand, it illuminated the bubble in a violent azure fire. “Read it.” Her fingers danced encouragingly. “The Confederacy intend to investigate the death themselves.” The latter words were strained, as they should have been. It hadn't been expected. If it weren't for the Confederacy suddenly moving operations from Geonosis to Naboo, nobody would have batted an eyelid over Karia's death. There certainly wouldn't have been a Confederate investigation into it, but by then... it had been too late.

The plan had been set in motion. The credits had crossed palms, and Mila had been left to watch with wide-eyed panic as the Confederacy slowly siphoned its government into Theed. Bringing with them a dominating shadow over what had appeared to be the perfect plan.

“Talak...” Her voice was a whisper, softer than the late-night breeze that tumbled over the grass plains of Naboo. “I'm afraid.”​

 

[Talak Jenste]

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Location: Theed Palace - Throne Room
TAG: Saraya Arenais


Talak met her answer with a firm nod of agreement. “You did make a decision and you can no longer walk that back. You must own it and see it through, or you will be undone.” he was not attempting to scare her but at the same who gave her the honest yet brutal truth as he had always done. Sparing the feelings of someone usually caused a greater hurt, and ignorance of detail. He watched silently as her eyes roamed the opulent halls and she, activating the simple shroud that would keep those who wished to hear, he ran a finger along the bubble in amusement before turning back to her.

“Then you come to understand far sooner than most. It is foolish, titles, power, a throne even swaths of empty space. It is all something tangible that can be taken away at a moment’s notice.” he inclined his head slightly at her question. “Perhaps. But now we are on this course and must see it through. Every action has consequences Mila, for every action a reaction.” he took the datapad and looked it over nodding. “As I said, for every action a reaction. Naboo is Is now the capital of the Confederacy and the one who invited them here is dead. They will want answers” he handed the datapad back to her.

“This is not unexpected. But it is why I cautioned against this plan.” he could see the fear set into her eyes, an innocent child, yet not, she was one who now bore the burden of leadership taken from the cold hands of an innocent woman for but one reason, a lust for power. It was an all too common disease that had weakened the Sith for generations, that is why he was never for this plan and that is why the Sith Empire was no longer home. Stepping forward he wrapped her in a gentle but firm embrace placing a hand firmly on the back of her head as he did so. “Fear is a good response, provided you allow it to make you careful and not panic. I will need your unwavering trust in the coming days, the Confederacy must be moved from any trail that leads back to you. This means more people will die but I will shield you as best I can.”

He released her from his grip just enough so that he could again look her in the eyes “Do I have your trust Mila?” The question was direct and firm, he knew the answer already, there was no question to him but he needed her to affirm it to herself. If he would now involve himself in this scheme he would need to know that she would not waver.