Private The Prim and Pauper

[Colette]

Aurelian Veruna

At first she had been livid, and then she had calmed down. Usually she would have let it go by now, but something in the way the man acted ticked her off. The Jedi demanded no respect, had no innate reason to be respected, but to watch a man so blatantly try and insult the Jedi at a diplomatic meeting was just infuriating.

The doors swung open to his 'highness' approach who had no doubt been made aware that someone was waiting for him at the other end of said doors. The air was already filled by another voice, Colette's voice, before he had a chance to speak.

Stern, but not aggressive. The worst of the frustration passed the second she left the room and gave herself a few moments to breathe.

"Let's hash this out." She said and motioned her hand between herself and the 'king.' "What is your problem?"

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Tags: Colette

Tona, his ever-vigilant aide, had offered a quiet warning before the chamber doors even parted. These Jedi simply could not help themselves, utterly convinced of their own moral superiority over the rest of the galaxy. Poking at their rigid galactic views and watching them squirm was quickly becoming the highlight of an otherwise dull affair. This particular girl had practically begged to be stirred up during the briefing.

Stepping out into the cooler corridor, Aurelian immediately met her stern gaze with a flawlessly smug expression. Her sudden confrontation lacked the usual diplomatic subtext he was accustomed to navigating in the royal courts, but her sheer audacity was undeniably amusing.

"Do they no longer teach the Jedi proper manners, or is this coarse display a specialty of yours?" Aurelian replied, his voice dripping with effortless aristocratic charm. He adjusted the cuff of his tunic, looking down at her with the supreme confidence of a reigning monarch addressing a commoner.

"I am afraid I cannot 'hash' out your lack of basic etiquette, my dear. That particular failure falls squarely on your own Order."

​

 

[Colette]

Aurelian Veruna
"No, they forgot to teach me when I crawled out from the rock I was born under." Colette allowed herself a moment of humor as the most deadpan set of eyes set on the 'king' of Naboo. All things considered nothing in her statement was untrue. "But I'm not talking about your titles, I am talking about your actions. The way you have consistently behaved around the Jedi."

"What I want to understand is where the hostility comes from. And if there's a way to bridge that gap since we're bound to be working together in the future whether we want to or not."

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Tags: Colette

A genuine flash of amusement cut through Aurelian's initial skepticism. Her deadpan delivery about crawling out from under a rock actually earned a brief, assessing look.

"The way I have behaved?" Aurelian shot back incredulously, crossing his arms over his chest. "Let us be entirely honest. You mystics consistently cause galactic catastrophes and then sit on your hands for decades debating the ethics of how to fix them."

Stepping a fraction closer, his eyes traced her up and down with a deliberate lack of subtlety.

"It is nothing personal, my dear. Well, perhaps a little personal, considering the sheer arrogance of your Order," Aurelian declared. "The current state of the galaxy requires a strong hand and immediate results. We are facing an existential war, and your peaceful hesitation is a luxury the Republic can no longer afford."

​

 

[Colette]

Aurelian Veruna

Good, that was a look she could work with. Re-assessment meant a changing mind. Changing mind meant he wasn't as set in his ways as his outward facade would have implied. Colette listened to his 'complaint' and nodded to what he was saying.

"You're not wrong." Colette agreed. "Looking at what has, historically, been the reason many galactic democracies and empires have fallen it almost always seems to fall back to Jedi or Sith intervention. It'd be idiotic argue otherwise."

"The issue now however is that we're not in the history books yet, and the situation we're facing risks being a repeat of what we've already seen before unless something changes." Colette gave Aurelian a thoughtful frown. "I want you to tell me in a clear and concise way what you need to see from the Jedi. That way I can lift it to the council and see what changes could be made."

"And before you point out you just did that inside of that room, there is a very real difference between something being called out by an outsider and something being raised as in issue from within the Order."

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Tags: Colette

Unexpected honesty from a Jedi was a refreshing rarity. Hearing her openly agree with his historical assessment of her Order caused Aurelian to shift his weight, his hand rising to trace the line of his jaw as he listened intently. Most mystics would have immediately retreated behind a defensive wall of self-righteous platitudes. Colette stood her ground, entirely cool and focused. While part of him missed the cheap thrill of cracking that perfect Jedi facade, her composure intrigued him. She possessed a grounded self-control that even Corazona von Ascania lacked whenever he poked at her.

"I like you," Aurelian admitted, a genuine smile returning to his face.

Slow strides took him a few paces down the dimly lit corridor, his eyes scanning the massive subterranean architecture of the canyon before turning back to her.

"It is time the Jedi stop merely reacting to Sith attacks," Aurelian began, his voice dropping into a pragmatic cadence. "You are not entirely alone in this folly. The Republic shares the burden of wanting peace and prosperity so badly that it blinded itself to the gathering storm. But the storm is here now."

Stopping directly in front of her, the young king leaned in slightly, examining her face with sharp intensity. He needed weapons, not philosophers.

"I need your people on the front lines when I finally convince the Republic war machine to launch an offensive and liberate the galaxy," Aurelian stated plainly. "Monks hiding in their distant monasteries are useless to me. I need every blade, every asset, and every bit of conviction I can find in this fight."

​

 

[Colette]

Aurelian Veruna

Okay, uh, she hadn't expected him to 'like' her though, and it showed in the way she blinked. The conversation took a dip into territory where opinion and plausible action became two separate things. Which was not to mention the irony of it all either. One way or the other Aurelian was going to get his wish, it was just a matter of what 'Order' it came from, and that was something Colette had no issue grinning over.

"You actually won't get any arguments from me over this." Colette admitted and rubbed a hand against the back of her neck. She needed a moment to think her response over. There was only so much she could say without undermining Ala's authority, and only so much she could tell without undermining the Order completely.

As far as being a councilor went, it sucked major balls to be one during major strife such as this.

"The Jedi are on their heels over this realization too." She said and slowly nodded, mostly to give herself the approval she sought for the words used. "There are many within the Order who are jumping at the chance to do more and personally, as a Councilor, I am not going to hold them back unless I have to."

"As quartermaster I'm very well-aware that in some ways we don't have the resources to launch anything on a large scale, but it shouldn't mean we can't do anything." A finger hooked to her chin, her eyes squinted. "I could try to raise something with the council regarding strike teams against the Sith. Most likely the Covenant."

Actually, that wasn't a bad idea at all. Hell, it might even have been a great idea. It'd undermine the crusade's legitimacy, and show them that the Order is willing to change for both them as well as the Republic in a way that was natural.

"The Sith Order has their wall, but the Covenant are a bunch of warlords. If we could get a list of assets tied to their leadership, it shouldn't be too difficult to send in small strike teams on hit-and-run missions. Would that work?"

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Tags: Colette

Blunt honesty came naturally to the young monarch. Hearing Colette's proposal for hit-and-run tactics, Aurelian let out a soft chuckle that echoed slightly.

"Frankly, anything is better than what you all are currently doing," Aurelian admitted rather blatantly. "If that means sending strike teams to harass their leadership, at least it is something. A step in the right direction."

Amusement swirled with calculation in his mind. Mobilizing the Jedi into small, aggressive pockets would serve as an exceptional distraction for the Sith, keeping the Covenant off-balance while the Republic solidified its actual military machinery. If this pragmatic quartermaster wanted to pitch that to her colleagues, he certainly had no intentions of stopping her. A sudden curiosity flickered through him regarding those rogue elements she mentioned. He wanted to know exactly who these proactive Jedi were; men and women with the stomach for violence were far more useful to him than philosophers.

"Do not think for a second that just because there is a Black Wall between us and those other Sith means we are safe from them, either," Aurelian warned, lifting a lone finger to point sharply back toward the war room. "You need to get that reality through the head of that mop-headed Grand Master of yours. She is far too idealistic for the actual threats facing the Republic today. She needs to do more, or she will witness the extinction of her own people."

Testing the waters of the Jedi hierarchy felt like a marvelous game. Knowing very little about Ala Quin beyond her public passivity, the opportunity to subtly pit this frustrated councilor against her superior was simply too delicious to pass up. He watched Colette closely, waiting to see just how deep the fractures within the Order ran.

​

 

[Colette]

Aurelian Veruna

He liked to hammer home that they did too little. She supposed it was fair, but the point hardly needed to be made each time he opened his mouth to make some other, adjacent point. As for what she had meant with the blackwall, well…

"I'm not saying the black wall is keeping us safe, I'm saying it's a one-way mirror and we're on the reflective side." Colette stood firm on this. It was perhaps then also convenient that any mention of Ala's leadership went unregarded Her brows sunk to challenge his attempts to probe her. They all had their parts to play, and as far as she was concerned Ala was mostly the outward-facing, decision-finalizing entity of the Order.

"If you mean the death of the current Order, sure." Colette nodded. "But Jedi as a whole? Hardly."

"The big issue with a religious war is that trying to kill a thought only makes it stronger. Same as any time governments have tried to censor books and media. Just makes people even more likely to want to get a copy to figure out why it was banned. No, thoughts are cheap and religion is nothing more than a lot of people with the same idea of what that thought is."

"Now, people on the other hand. That's a very different story. I suggest we attack the Covenant because those are people whose credibility we can actually strike at." Colette raised a brow. "You have an avatar of obedience and fearful loyalty? Liberate their people. Have a self-proclaimed… I don't know, Banker of the Wicked? Destroy his income."

"I appreciate what all this talking is about, but we can't get too wrapped up in the fact that they are Sith. We need to act on the fact that they are people with warped ideals. Anything else is just a waste of time and energy."

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Tags: Colette

A heavy wave of boredom washed over Aurelian as the girl devolved into a philosophical lecture on the religious nature of ideas and the permanence of thought. The sheer academic weight of her words threatened to bring back the mind-numbing dullness of the senate briefing room. He nodded along with a slow, exaggerated rhythm, his eyes briefly tracking a crack in the canyon ceiling.

"Yes, yes, yes," Aurelian cut in, waving a dismissive hand to chop her tangent short. The nuance of a one-way mirror held absolutely zero appeal when the galaxy was burning. "Then have your Jedi actually do something about it. Frankly, I see no real difference between a Sith behind the Black Wall and a warlord in the Covenant. They are both a plague. I would quite prefer to see them vanish from the galaxy entirely."

Stepping forward until he completely commanded her immediate space. The time for dissecting their enemy's warped psychology had long since passed.

"Stop talking about the nature of their beliefs and start cutting away at their operations," Aurelian commanded, his gritty tone brooking no further debate. "Do not wait for them to mount the next offensive. I guarantee you right now, your Order will not be ready for whatever the Sith are planning next. Prove to me you can actually strike back before they make a move."

​

 

[Colette]

Aurelian Veruna

Was that an attempt to appear threatening? The distance might have shortened, but the words that leaped out of Aurelian’s mouth were as flaccid as his entire feigned bravado. Just another propped up would-be bureaucrat with ideas of what it meant to be out there.

A pointed finger poked firmly against the man’s chest to push him back and out of Colette’s personal space. An involuntary, deep, almost guttural laughter blew past her lips. If he wanted to poke the nexu, then the nexu would damned well poke him the feck back.

“I think you’ll find that you’ll get exactly what you want.” Colette grumbled through gritted teeth. “In fact, I think in about a year’s time it won’t even be me in this chamber with you. It’ll be something else, something a bit more capable of speaking your kind of language.”

Once at a sufficient distance, she let her finger off his chest and into the fold of her arms.

“Change takes time, and I know my place in that. You, on the other hand, would do well enough to show some respect. Because the ones who are gunning for my job are far less likely to listen than I am.”

The cup runneth over, Colette took a deep breath.

“Actually,” She proceeded. “If we’re talking about a lack of backbone here, King Veruna. Why was it that you let the woman who stabbed you, a Sith no less, have free reign on the streets of Naboo?”

Her head tilted in defiance.

“We might not have killed any Sith, but your republic practically bent over backwards to accommodate her.” She scoffed. “You’d think someone as important as a King would have the people rallying to keep them safe and their would-be murderer off the streets.” Her head shook. “And yet, the woman who marked you — marked me — with a knife was granted diplomatic immunity. Allowed to potentially turn the people, your people, to her side rather than yours.”

“So don’t talk to me about lacking a backbone when you were clearly capable of selling yours for some political concessions.”

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Tags: Colette

Audacity usually proved entertaining, but the sudden pressure of her finger against his chest crossed a definitive boundary. Aurelian stumbled back a single step, his eyes widening in a rare flash of genuine shock as the Jedi gave in to her tantrum. He remained entirely still, letting the girl exhaust her dramatic little monologue before adjusting his tunic.

"First of all, I would argue you are all equally miserable to deal with," Aurelian replied. "Whether it is your face or the next in a year's time, it is all the same side of a tragic coin. Just more monks with lofty ideals. I could not care less who takes your seat. They will receive the exact same disdain for sitting on their hands."

Her sudden lecture on the handling of the Sith Princess on Naboo struck a remarkably raw nerve. Internal fury flickered behind his dangerous smile, though he forced his posture to remain loose and unbothered.

"And what exactly do you presume I should have done?" Aurelian questioned, his tone sharpening into pure venom as he stepped back into her space. "I warned every single leader, including your precious Order, about her and the rising Sith threat. Everyone dragged their feet while she expertly wormed her way back onto the throne of Eshan, hiding under the explicit protection of our only viable allies."

Frustration boiled over into a sharp scoff as he rolled his eyes, gesturing toward the heavy chamber doors. The political reality of ruling Naboo was a cage these mystics never had to understand.

"I have bent the knee to every diplomatic protocol to force the Jedi and the Republic into motion," Aurelian declared, his voice tight with grit. "Now I must answer to the demands of my own people while managing the fragile egos of the Senate. My hands are bound by the laws we created. Yours and the Jedi's are entirely free, yet you willingly allow her free rein to compromise my world."

​

 

[Colette]

Aurelian Veruna

Deep breaths. Deep, deep breaths. Colette's teeth gritted, her nails digging into the palms of her hands. None of this was personal, all of it were things that needed to be said sooner or later. Or at least holding onto that thought made the onslaught of accusations more bearable.

He was in her space again, but at least the conversation had become a lot more honest.

"We're bound by the same rules and laws!" She exclaimed in response. "If the Jedi do nothing we're inept, if we do anything at all we're worse than the Alliance. Either we're acting within the boundaries of this dumbass secular system that allows the Sith to be free, or we break the law and risk our entire Order being sent away."

And the worst part was that she wanted to agree with him to some extent. The trail of evidence pointed to gross negligence and incompetence from the Order and she had no idea how to course correct from that because it wasn't her job.

"Look, your highness," Colette exhaled, huffed at a loss for words. "I am not an idiot, and I am not going to pretend that you are wrong in any regard. But to think that we're doing nothing because we want to do nothing - that is wrong."

"You're right. I don't know what you are carrying, but the Jedi aren't free at all, and you don't seem to see that." She finally calmed down, let her fingers uncurl with one more sharp exhale. "We tried to play by the rules and it caused a diplomatic catastrophe. Your friend Adelle can confirm that much."

"From where I'm standing, both of us are clearly smart enough to see that something in the system has been set up to hinder any real action."

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Tags: Colette

"Someone has a temper..." Aurelian whispered as she lashed out. A wicked smile betrayed his true thoughts. He was enjoying this far too much. Watching the Jedi quartermaster unravel under pressure was infinitely more entertaining than analyzing sector maps.

"I am not in the wrong in any way," he added smoothly between her desperate explanations.

Lifting his gaze toward the canyon ceiling, he allowed her to finish her speech while blatantly feigning boredom. Only when her exhales grew quiet did he bother to address her arguments directly.

"Listen, I have no idea who you are referring to or what incident you speak of," Aurelian lied, his tone dripping with careless arrogance. Naturally, he knew precisely what she was talking about, but giving away free leverage to a mystic went against every instinct in his blood. "So what exactly do you hope to accomplish with... whatever this is?"

His hand drifted between them in a lazy, sweeping gesture. The theatrical display of helplessness from her Order was growing stale.

"I have done my job," Aurelian declared, taking a slow step back to look her up and down. "Now it is time for the Jedi to finally do theirs. You can moan and groan all you want about how terribly difficult it is to be a guardian of peace, but why not simply take action? Right now, you are standing in a hallway yelling at a king for no reason at all."

​

 

[Colette]

Aurelian Veruna

A deep chuckle parted Colette's lips at his response, followed by a laugh.

"Oh you're good," she said and crossed her arms, a grin lingering on her lips as she spoke. "Cora said you were."

He looked her up and down, and she did the same to him. Aurelian had played her like a fiddle. Gotten beneath Colette's skin in a way that few did. He held authority and had she not been told by a friend that he was 'raised like that', she would have assumed he was a pompous inept leader as well.

She let a moment pass as she went over the last few seconds in her head. The constant insults. The way he had reinforced how right he was. These parts made sense, they dug into her skin in a way that few things could because he represented everything that Colette hated about the machine he was part of.

But the bigger a lie was, the easier it was to tell. Someone with this much disdain for 'mystics' would revel at a chance to have their failures as thoroughly documented as that particular one had been. To say he had no idea that it had happened, on his planet of governance no less, was just dumb.

Some part of him was staying for entertainment. His disdain might have been genuine, but so was his humor. Watching a councilor break apart was some of the best fun he'd had all day. And for Colette it was a feeling that made it all the worse. Few things felt as bad as realizing you had fallen for a trap. All you could do in a situation like that was to laugh.

"Where I'm from, this kind of talking was just natural." She eventually said, her grin still lingering. "Yelling is cathartic, it lets the heart breathe more easily after tension."

"So in that regard, thank you." She tipped her head for a moment. "I've wanted to say these things for ages. Not to you specifically, of course, but to someone like you."

"As thanks, if you want strike teams, I can see about getting those going. Otherwise, genuinely your highness, is there anything more concrete you want to ask of the Jedi? Do you need supplies or any other kind of work done?"

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Tags: Colette

His features shifted instantly at the mention of Corazona. Hearing Cora's name drop from her lips brought a sudden flicker of annoyance. Of course this girl knew Cora, though why she was discussing him with a Jedi quartermaster remained a irritating mystery. People naturally gravitated toward Aurelian and spoke fondly of him, but he had assumed Cora possessed far too much aristocratic taste to engage in casual gossip with mystics.

Quiet settled over the corridor as he waited, silently inviting another outburst to fuel his amusement. Her calm pivot to deadpan gratitude proved terribly disappointing. The show was over.

"Sounds like a utterly savage place, wherever you are from," Aurelian chimed in, adjusting his posture with cold indifference. "Regardless, my expectations remain unchanged. Do more. Perform your duties like the good little mystics you are and rid the galaxy of this Sith plague."

Brushing an imaginary speck of dust from his sleeve, he let out a dramatic sigh. The game of baiting her was rapidly running out of momentum.

"Figure it out so we never have to repeat this dreadful conversation," he added, his gritty tone sharp and demanding. "Anticipate the enemy, Master Quartermaster. That is the name of the game. I would much rather avoid speaking with your kind entirely if I can help it."

Turning his head slightly, Aurelian stared off toward a distant archway in the canyon, completely withdrawing his attention. He casually waved a hand to dismiss her like a servant. Leaving first was always an option, but testing whether one final display of royal arrogance could crack her composure again was far too tempting to resist.

​

 

[Colette]

Aurelian Veruna

Savage to some, free to others. Her home was imperfect, but it was still the foundation which had built the woman she was today. Looking at Aurelian she would say the same about his home if it wasn't because she didn't care to.

Courtly life was just a different type of jungle. At least Colette's home taught trust over suspicion.

He tried to dismiss her and Colette snickered at his increasingly petulant attempts at getting under her skin.

"Oh we'll have this conversation many times, Aurelian!" She shouted after him as he began to leave. "Lucy's birthdays, Corazona's events… Aunt Colette will be there. Don't you worry."

And with that she chuckled one more time and slowly began to follow. Albeit at a distance and with clear disinterest in continuing the conversation any further.

Such a shame that their ships were parked practically wall-to-wall.