Private The Handmaidens' Tale

[Colette]

Corazona von Ascania

Beatrice was going to ride that stallion into the sunset. That was what she was going to do. She was going to polish the regalia, spread the seed of his family tree, and a dozen other inappropriate acts until eventually, she hoped, a baby popped out.

But Corazona had most likely already figured that much. As she approached Colette there was no denying that the tribal girl was very much not entertained by entertaining this Miss Banfield character, but mostly because she had not yet realized that these 'years of friendship' she insinuated at was, in fact, a lie.

There was a noticeable slump of her shoulders and an exhale of relief as Corazona came back to take the noblewoman's spot. She smiled at her friend as she tried to explain what she had seen, but as Cora began to stumble over her words and seemed unable to say a certain word she would slowly feel said smile fade as her eyebrows sunk in frustration.

'Refined' speaking was a curse upon their communication that could go fu—

Ooooh, illegitimate son, she say? The frustration instantly turned into curiosity. That was the best motive that the two of them had at the moment. If someone could kill Claudia to take her throne, that would certainly make for a powerful motivation to commit an atrocity.

"Okay, that's good." Colette nodded and looked around. "I haven't found anything on my end other than Banfield apparently knowing the princess and the princess finding her dull."

"So, any idea how we track down this brother of hers?"

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora blinked. The excitement of having found out a nugget of interesting information drained from her person.

"I…am unsure. I suppose we should continue to protect the princess, then inform her after the party id he doesn't make a move? It might not even be him, and we run the risk of exposing a family affair."

Illegitimate children were not uncommon among nobles, but how they were received varied widely. If they weren't careful, and if the brother was innocent, revealing his existence could've signed the poor man's death warrant.

Then again, it was too suspicious not to act on. Cora opened her mouth to say something else, but she was cut off from an announcement by the head attendant.

"Ladies and gentleman, at this time we request that all esteemed guests move to the courtyard for the firework display."

Cora glanced to Colette, the pair of them sharing a look.

"I don't…remember anything about this in the briefing." She muttered lowly. It wasn't uncommon to keep guests in the dark about certain aspects of a party so as to not ruin the surprise, but Cora couldn't recall a firework show being mentioned.

Colette

 

[Colette]

Corazona von Ascania

Nobility and their stupid bloody 'finer' things. If an illegitimate son was a bad thing, then just make it not be a bad thing. What was the damn point? If you wanted a certain person to inherit, just say that, stop this whole 'eldest child' business.

Well, either way, while Colette hadn't read about this in the brief either it still struck her as something equally pompous to just kind of throw out there. It wouldn't be the first nonsensical thing that nobility did. What this told Colette was rather obviously that explosions were, apparently, good as long as it wasn't done to people and as long as they were colorful.

"Stay vigilant." Colette said and gave Cora a nod. "Something's up. I have a bad feeling about it."

The two fell in behind Claudia who seemed to be led to the center of the stage by the other servants. Applause erupted from the crowd. It was a slow clap, but one that deafened the senses with a plethora of voices.

They all turned towards the open air. The lights dimmed to drown them all in darkness as the trail of the first firework ripped through the sky and exploded into light with a thunder far too loud for what a firework should be. Colette felt her ears ring just a little as she winced.

Something felt wrong. Very wrong. The second firework went off, and it too was loud. The third however…

A red streak of light shrieked through the night sky for far longer than it had any right to. Colette looked at it, followed it with an intense stare before something in the force began to shift at the back of her mind like an ant stuck in a glass jar. It tickled in one direction, and as she turned her head to look it seemed to shift and change.

Her eyes set on an open window and narrowed. Part of her could have sworn she saw something poke out of the dark. The shriek came to a stop and roared like a dragon in the sky. Except, not really, that was the force. The whole scene was drenched in a bright red glow that would have blinded anyone who looked up at it as a single shot was fired from the window that Colette stared at.

She reached out towards the shooter and clawed her fingers until the bolt fired from his gun had slowed down to a crawl and an eventual end. Colette strained, the jig was entirely up and there was no longer any denying that she was in fact not a handmaiden. The girl strained as she looked over at her ward who was clearly blinded and flailing from the firework still.

But as they all came to and saw the bolt hanging in the air mere inches away from her chest, an outraged gasp spread from the center to the back for all to hear as Colette clearly struggled to hold it in place.

Someone else had to get the Princess out of the way. Someone other than Colette…

… Because there was a second shot being fired straight for her, being masked by an almost suspiciously quiet firework.

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

When Colette expressed that she had a bad feeling about the forework display, Cora frowned and nodded curtly in agreement. Something seemed off. That was the thing with the Force; it could tell you when something wasn't right, but it was up to you to identify what.

They didn't have to wait for long to figure that out.

"Goodness," Cora shielded her face with one hand from the blinding light of an exploded firework. The deafening boom caused her eardrums to vibrate unpleasantly. "These are quite…a lot."

While Colette's attention was drawn towards the window, Cora kept her focus on the Princess. Something prickled at the back of her neck, and she reflexively drew on the Force in case-

She flung her hand out in the direction of the window, but the bolt had already slowed to a crawl. In the back of her mind, Cora was stunned, impressed with Colette's quick instincts, and oh high alert.

There was no more reason to pretend that they were simple handmaidens. If there was one shot, there would be another. Cora shoved Claudia out of the way, taking her place lest the shot stray into the crowd and hit someone innocent.

It struck her shoulder and she hissed, but adrenaline kept her moving.

"Go after them before they get away!" She grimaced, left arm hanging limply by her side as she stood over the stunned Princess. "I'll stay here and-"

Spinning in place, she grabbed the wrist of a would-be assassin wielding a knife and twisted hard.

Colette

 

[Colette]

Corazona von Ascania

There was nothing but respect coursing through Colette's mind as she nodded at the wounded Corazona and made a beeline back into the ballroom, but there was something holding her back: this goddamn dress. Her hand pulled at the corset so that she could breathe before she took it off and threw it on the ground. For her legs she simply ripped a slit in it and trimmed it just a little while she was at it.

With a newfound sense of mobility and determination there was nothing to hold her back. Colette sprinted up the stairs and burst through the doors that swung open straight in the shooter's face. They fell to the ground with a pained grunt and Colette wasted no time to pick him off the ground and throw him across the room towards the window where she grabbed him by the collar and threw him against the window.

It cracked, she kneed him in the stomach, she struck him across the head, and then she let the window crack. Shards of glass glistened in the sky as she continued to hold him over the edge to let the blood get to his head for a moment before she threw him back into the room.

The guards swarmed in and she forced the shooter to kneel before them. It wasn't right to feel this way, but there was no way that Colette could deny the catharsis that was coursing through her veins in this very moment. She had done good, more than good, she had done excellent and after an evening of listening to Claudia be the worst brat she had seen in recent memory, it felt good to let out all that pent-up rage.

"Shackle him. There are more."

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

The knife-wielder yelped and stumbled back, dropping his weapon which Cora retrieved.

The Padawans' gaze met for a split second in mutual understanding of the situation and their respective roles.

There's more than one.

Colette dashed off to neutralize the sniper while Cora placed herself over a stunned Claudia. Her left arm hung limp, but she barely felt the pain through the rush of adrenaline. It only took a few more seconds for them to be surrounded by a cadre of royal guards, fanning out into a circle to protect the Princess as she was helped to her feet.

"Wh-what was that? Someone tried to sh…shoot me?" Claudia gasped in disbelief as Cora used her free hand to hoist the woman upward. Two of the guards knelt over the would-be assassin with the broken wrist, binding his arms behind his back and hurrying him off towards the palace.

"Yes. Whoever is after you decided to make their move now. We should get ins-"

Cora's gaze tracked up to the window, nearly wincing as she saw a body slam into the glass. She caught a glimpse of the face as their head rolled back, relieved that it wasn't Colette who'd taken the hit, but rather was the one who'd doled out the pain.

"The shooter has been neutralized, but we must get you inside in case there are more, Hurry!"

The group hustled to get Claudia back to the palace proper, jostling guests as they went past. While most were mesmerized by the firework display and none the wiser to the assassination attempt, a few murmurs of concern drifted over the crowd.

Cora reached out into the Force with a brief suggestion; A firework exploded too close to the Princess and she became frightened.

The sniper was bound and removed from the room, headed for a holding cell or dungeon to join his comrade for questioning. One of the guards approached Colette.

"The Princess is safely within the palace, and another assassin has been apprehended." He paused, looking to the cracked window, the rifle, and then the drops of blood on the wall.

"How…how did you know where he was?"

Colette

 

[Colette]

Corazona von Ascania

"I had a gut feeling when the fireworks got so loud." She said and huffed at the shooter. "Saw them poke the rifle out of one of the window panels, and, well…"

The detainee shook and tugged at his shackles to break free. The guard standing over him chuckled before giving him a quick thwap to tell him to stop it. Colette frowned at what she was seeing. It wasn't right to abuse someone who was already down like that. A simple reprimand would have sufficed.

It was better to play this off as intuition. There could still be more assassins.

—----------

"UNHAND ME! I AM A PRINCESS!" Claudia yelled before the guards let her go so that she could straighten her hair. "I've never been so disrespected in my life! First I get shot, then someone tries to stab me, then my own guards grab me by my delicate wrists and lead me into a dark room!"

Colette had to do little more than follow the sounds and miasma of privilege to find Cora and their ward. Well, that and the force but Colette preferred to think this woman was so vile that her mere presence could wilt the world around her. It sure felt like it.

"And YOU…" Claudia pointed a stern finger at Colette as she entered. "We outfit you in some of the finest clothe the galaxy has to offer and THIS…"

She looked at Colette and recoiled in utter disgust.

"THIS is how you repay me? The gall!"

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Claudia's protesting fell to the back of Cora's mind as they moved the Princess through the palace, down an unassuming corridor and into a nondescript room. Once the building had been secured and the immediate danger passed, Cora's patience wore thin.

Colette appeared, prompting a sigh of relief from Cora and a tirade of abuse from Claudia.

The Padawan's lower eyelid twitched.

"That is quite enough!"

Cora placed herself in between the bratty Princess and the tribal Jedi, shoulders back, eyes narrowed, voice firm. She looked at Claudia head-on, disappointment dripping in her iron tone.

"I understand that what happened was unusual and frightening, but we saved your life. Twice. Colette risked her life to go after the person who shot at you, and all you can do is berate her? A proper Princess is gracious towards those who come to her aid."

Cora was fully aware that she was lecturing someone whose position she had been in before. Much like her own situation, perhaps there were layers to what Claudia was going through, but that didn't mean that she could continue to be unfathomably rude to those around her.

With that done, Cora turned to her friend and mission partner while a stunned Claudia looked as if she'd just been poked with an electric cattle prod.

"You got him? You're alright? There was one more in the crowd, and if there were any others, they were scared off." She glanced to the guards in the room.

"I'm sure they'll be able to find out who those two were working with…or for."

Colette

 

[Colette]

Corazona von Ascania

Colette wasn't alone in blinking at Corazona. Claudia looked at the blonde in straight up fear as she backed off and away from her. Never had she been spoken to like that. A lifetime in luxury and not once had she been reprimanded for, well, anything. Not because her parents had wanted that for her, if anything they most likely wanted anything but her.

The princess stood on the spot for a while before she started to feel the burn of a feeling that she had never felt before. Her heart seemed to skip for a moment, no not skip, burn like a thousand suns as she let out an uncharacteristic stammer that merely came out as an 'uh'.

She didn't know what to say.

"I didn't plan on going quite so rough on the guy." Colette said to break the silence and anxiously rubbed at the back of her neck. "Nothing a week or two of care won't fix, but… The window part was new."

"Are you okay, Corazona?"

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora flushed slightly from the rush of scolding a Princess – something she wasn't sure that she should have done, but you can't un-ring a bell once it has been rung.

The adrenaline decided to wear off at that particular moment, the dull throb of her shoulder turning into a painful, stabbing pulse. Cora winced.

"Nothing prompt medical care won't fix, but I'm afraid that I won't be swinging a saber for some time."

On cue, one of the guards fumbled for a batca patch after checking to ensure that the Princess was unharmed, aside from tousled hair and bruised pride.

"What…nngh…happened with the window part?" She asked as the patch was applied over her wound. It stung, but she'd long since learned that the stinging was a good thing. "He didn't get you anywhere, did he?"

Colette

 

[Colette]

Corazona von Ascania

"Good." Colette chuckled and placed a hand on Cora's shoulder for support. "The window thing was, uh…" She cleared her throat and leaned in for a whisper. "Me having a moment of inspiration."

The guards were moving to secure the rest of the guests. Some more haughty than the others. "I do say!" A frustrated voice all too familiar to Corazona harrumphed quite loudly before moving along with the others. "Oh my, of course, Officer Handsome. Oh! Did I just say that out loud?" Said another and smirked its way into the night.

"I think the worst of it has passed." Colette muttered and looked over at the crowd. "Though the killer is most likely in that crowd somewhere."

"Call it a gut feeling."

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

"In…spiration?" Cora's brow crinkled, then relaxed. "Well, creativity is a good thing to have. Good work."

Beatrice's voice didn't have to work too hard to reach them. Cora shivered for recollection of the woman's…eagerness.

At least she had provided good intel. Maybe.

"I think you're right." Cora agreed. "I highly doubt that the two we caught are this illegitimate heir. Nobles don't tend to carry out the dirty deed themselves."

They hired other people to do that. Mercenaries, assassins. Sometimes they even ordered their own servants to do their dirty work, and if necessary, take the fall.

"I do hope that this has…humbled our ward."

Colette

 

[Colette]

Corazona von Ascania

Colette gave Claudia a look.

"I think you could say that." She said and chuckled as she looked back at Cora. "Not sure if she was more afraid of the blaster bolt or your dressing down to be honest. Maybe a little bit of both."

The bunker felt remarkably quiet. Not a dangerous quiet as much as a cautious quiet. The kind that passes through a crowd once a bad storm has passed and everyone is making sure the coast is all clear again.

"Makko teach you to scream like that or something?"

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

"Scream?" Cora's brow wrinkled. "I mean, I did speak to her in a firm tone, but I'd hardly call that screaming."

Had she raised her voice? Now she was wondering. The stress of the moment and Claudia's attitude had eroded the more demure persona she'd been used to wearing around royalty.

"Hmm…well, Makko does like it when I-"

She started to answer Colette distractedly, but her cheeks flushed brightly when her mind caught up with what she was saying.

"How, er…are you and Shan doing?"

It was a quick change, one that would hopefully dissuade any focus from her own embarrassment.

Colette

 

[Colette]

Corazona von Ascania

Call it the adrenaline that made Colette remember the dressing down all wrong. She was going to correct herself after Corazona's correction, but then the blonde woman's sudden rosiness caught Colette's attention and she forgot all about it.

"No," Colette chuckled and shook her head. "Shan has never given me reason to scream."

"I mean, I get what you mean to ask? Some see screaming as merely being passionate, but… Nah. We keep it down mostly. We talk to each other with respect and on equal ground, you know?"

"Things get less messy that way. No difficult feelings getting in the way of it all, and we maintain a healthy relationship that way. I'm sure you understand. I mean, we're both really new to the whole thing and— well, you and Makko are both very experienced with… Exposing such a profound and vulnerable part of yourself to someone you care for like that. It's kind of scary, but also thrilling."

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Oh. She meant scream like angry scream. Maybe. Probably. It made more sense that way.

Cora smiled, pleased to hear that Colette and Shan were getting along well. She'd been a little worried given Colette's blunt nature and Shan's gentleness, but Colette was capable of compassion and Shan tended to bring out the best in people.

She adored them both, really.

"Thats great to hear. Honestly." She nodded. "Makko and I started out in conflict, and with the marriage, and then Denon, then Thule…things got complicated."

There was hesitation in her tone and on her face before Cora let her nerves ease into a faint smile.

"But we've come out the other side of it and I think we're learning to deal with problems better. I…cherish him.”

Scary but thrilling. Colette was right.

"Thats a good way to put it. It can be hard at first, being so vulnerable around someone…but knowing that they know you so well, there's nothing quite like it."

Cora put a hand to her chin in thought.

"Say, we should go on a double date some time."

Colette

 

[Colette]

Corazona von Ascania

It was really just the two of them now. The guards had led the princess out and secured a way for her to get back to her quarters. Colette took a seat with Corazona to just talk and unwind after the evening's excitement.

It was good to get some moments like this to themselves after all. It made their difference smaller the more they did it. Which perhaps said something about Colette adjusting to the galaxy at large. You could only stay willfully apart from it for so long before it inevitably influenced you whether you wanted it to or not.

The same was probably true for Cora too.

"A… Double date?" Colette asked and raised her brow. "I admire that you are so open with your affections, but I'm not interested in sharing Makko with you. I'm not interested in him like that, and I already have Shan. He's more than enough for me."

"Uh, thanks for asking though. I think?"

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

"O-oh, that's not…"

The blood rushed away from Cora's wounded shoulder and directly into her cheeks. She'd called it a double date, right? Not something weird?

Ah, she realized. Colette might've been unfamiliar with the term, which was far more embarassing for the blonde.

"No, no, that's not what I meant!" Cora waved the hand of her uninjured arm as if to dispel the notion that she'd just tried to share her boyfriend with another woman. "A double date is a date for two couples, usually friends. So it would be me and Makko, and you with Shan."

Cora blew a wayward strand of hair from her red face.

"We could do something like see a movie, or go get lunch together."

Still, she was impressed with how politely Colette had declined her instead of going ewwww.

Colette

 

[Colette]

Corazona von Ascania

A date for two couples? A double date. Oh, that kind of made sense. At least more sense than sharing Makko like Colette had initially thought. It was rather strangely forward for having come from Corazona of all people.

"I don't really like watching movies, but lunch sounds good." Colette chuckled. Cora was clearly embarrassed by their miscommunication. "Maybe something active?"

"Eh, we'll have time to think of something."

"Wanna get out of here and report back to Valery? Maybe… Give her some words about what we think of this whole assignment?"

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora let out a heavy breath which helped to ease some of the redness from her cheeks.

She'd been a little nervous that Colette wouldn't like the idea, but was happy to be proven wrong. A slow nod showed her agreement. They could figure out a plan that worked for all of them later.

"I'm glad. I'd like to spend more time with you and Shan."

Reaching out with her uninjured arm, Cora wrapped it around Colette's shoulder and gave the girl a side hug.

"Yes, I'd quite enjoy that." She nodded. "I've been thinking of exactly what I wanted to say to her all night."

Colette