Private Thrones and Thorns

[Dorin Nalju]

C O U N T
NEW IMPERIAL ORDER
SERENNO

All of Serenno was his.

A bit tyrannical to think in that matter, yet there was no evidence that supported that argument. The Sith gone, and their loyalists retreated into exile to avoid absolute justice which detailed into the death penalty. Former loyalists that remained in Serenno’s system were hunted down and persecuted, didn’t matter if it was noble or commoner. The obvious and easiest criminals to pursue were those of noble blood, everyone subjected to interrogation and further investigated to find any link between them and their support to the Sith. Of course, he was called a tyrant for these orders by his opponents, opponents that many were accused of being Sith Loyalists. How ironic to be called that, yet they supported decadent, sadistic tyrants that oppressed Serenno and rewarded those that did their bidding.

His methods were considered extreme, but he was passive and forgiving to those that genuinely opposed the Sith and their influence on Serenno. Those guilty would face justice, but their sins would not be branded on to their kin that did not follow suit. The majority of the old guard was removed with their younger generations succeeding them to reign over their House; even cousins that never believed to rule were appointed head of their own House.

A small power vacuum existed within the Houses, even lesser ones rising up to tower over old, prominent Houses that ruled and influenced Serenno’s politics for generations upon generations. Any chaos that would have erupted by Dorin’s politics were calmed with martial law, and with the support of the New Imperials. Desperate times called for desperate measures, and the Lord Protector would do what he believed that was right to guide Serenno to stability in this new age that dawned over them.

“House Caedrin?” he asked to his advisor, the very House that Dorin was visiting to meet their new Countess.

“Yes, my Lord, many of its members were found with conspiring and plotting with the Sith Empire before our successful victory over them. What remains is the Countess Beatrix and a few relatives, many of the arrestees were men.”

“And yet they don’t seem to regress from these events, only progressing and holding their weight better than the other Houses. You don’t see that as a common theme from the others.”

Should he be skeptical of these nobles? Were they cunning from their intelligence? Seems that these young successors learned well from their predecessors, though it did rise the question if they adhered to any diabolical ideals from the old guard of House Caedrin. Was this a house with all its weeds plucked out from the garden, no longer tainted? Or was there a weed in disguise, their appearance an illusion to fool and despoil the flower bed.

Beatrix Caedrin​

 

[Beatrix Caedrin]

All great empires die from within, and House Caedrin had been no different. Beatrix had watched her family crumble. Brick by brick by weak, useless, brick. The cowards first, leaping ship the second there was a whiff of change in the air. They fled. To far off moons and distant planets. Good riddance, her uncle had said as he perched on the balcony watching the last of the ships disappear into thick white clouds. Beatrix had pictured them as dogs, whining and crying as they ran down the corridor with their tail between their legs after a good beating.

Good riddance, Beatrix had mirrored. Good riddance indeed.

Everyone who remained behind thought those who had fled were ridiculous. What power could possibly hope to stand against the Sith? No one could have quite predicted what would happen next. Not even her father, who prided himself on accurately guessing the consistently monotonous nature of the galaxy. One by one, they began to fall. Names were destroyed, houses laid to waste, families ruined and robbed of both life and stature.

Caedrin was one of the last to fall. Beatrix could remember the silence of her bedroom moments before the attack. How it seemed to cling to the shadows like an uninvited guest with malicious intentions. Beatrix had wondered then why sleep seemed to be eluding her, but when she thought back it was almost as if she knew something was not right. As if she knew House Caedrin's time was drawing to a very finite close.

Her father and mother had been dragged out first, followed by the limp and lifeless form of her uncle. Nobody had cast a second glance at her. Who would have thought to? At the time, she looked nothing more than a young, frightened woman on the brink of losing her entire family to a scandal she was too innocent to know anything about. She still looked like that, to anyone who did not have the time to look closer.

The story had been bought and paid for so many times now that Beatrix was starting to believe it herself, but what most people had forgotten, Beatrix remembered.

House Caedrin was dark and powerful. Their roots stretched deeper than any Imperial Order poison could dare hope to reach. Beatrix would not have seen it fall with the cowards and the turncoats that occupied the seats of power on Serenno now. She would stand where her father stood, and where his father stood, only there would be a marked difference this time. Beatrix was not stuck in the ways of the past, and she was more than happy to play the rose in a field full of thorns. More than happy.

"My Lady Caedrin…" Beatrix lilted her head idly toward the sound of the voice that drifted in from the door behind her. "Mmm?" Her soft tones echoed through the empty marble room. "We have just received word that we are to expect Lord Nalju for a visit." Beatrix let her eyelids close heavily, not bothering to hide the strained sigh that filtered out into the silence that followed. Finally, she threw her feet off the edge of the table where they had been resting and rose from her chair. "How long?" She asked as she swept the invisible wrinkles from her dress. "I'm unsure, my Lady. The message did not divulge."

Another sigh, this one filled with irritation more than anything else. "Very well. Set up some refreshments in the sunroom. I'll be along shortly." Without turning round to look at the servant, Beatrix waved him off with the back of her hand. She waited until the door was shut before she allowed herself to display a minorly amused expression.

Dorin Nalju. The man who had given the orders to destroy her family, friends, and the life she had known before. She hadn't the first clue what he wanted from her, but something suggested that it was not going to be for tea and cakes. Perhaps he was coming to prune what remained of the garden of House Caedrin, but he would find no weeds here. At least… not ones that would strangle him immediately.

Dorin Nalju ​

 

[Dorin Nalju]

C O U N T
NEW IMPERIAL ORDER
SERENNO

Finally he had arrived to the Caedrin Estate. Its architecture told that the Caedrins existed generations upon generations, perhaps centuries before all the current events in the Galaxy occurring. As old was their existence, so was their influence and power on Serenno. Was their dark deeds that old? Whatever answer was to that question was irrelevant to him. All that mattered was order and putting everyone in line. Dissidence and conspirators would meet an iron fist for their actions.

Naturally, the pleasantries were done in typical fashion. The announcement of the Lord Protector’s arrival and was escorted to the fair Lady of House Caedrin. He sensed no corruption in Lady Beatrix, though the walls of the estate was still tainted from such darkness. The Dark Side still reigned over these halls. A terrible thing to allow under his authority.

“My Lady,” Dorin approached the Caedrin matriarch with a charming smile, bowing before the woman while taking her hand and planting a kiss on its backside. Hopefully there would be no ill will as his commands did arrest and execute members of her family. “An honor to make your acquaintance.”

Beatrix Caedrin​

 

[Beatrix Caedrin]

A generous hand guided Dorin from the landing ramp through a series of complicated marble hallways, toward the sunroom that servants had prepared in advance.

The young Lady had been waiting there for him, draped lazily across the silk lounger that dominated the room. However, she slipped from the sofa the moment she heard footsteps echoing down the corridor, so by the time Dorin entered the room, she was ready and waiting for him.

"Lord Nalju." Beatrix spoke as she stepped forward to meet him, stretching one of her arms out for him to take as her expression worked its way into the best smile it could manage. "The pleasure is all mine; I can assure you." Once the pleasantries were over and done with, she motioned gently to one of the many seats in the sunroom. They were all placed carefully in front of a central table, which had been loaded with sweet treats and cold drinks.

The last thing she wanted was to keep him around here for longer, so Beatrix cut straight to the point. As she reached out and snatched up a grape in the tip of her fingers, she spoke again. "To what do I owe the honour of your visit, Lord Nalju?" She bit into the firm flesh of the grape to punctuate her sentence, which sent a light spray of sweet juices across the table. "I thought all your business here was concluded."

 

[Dorin Nalju]

C O U N T
NEW IMPERIAL ORDER
SERENNO

“I wish that were the case, my Lady,” he began to the Caedrin matriarch. “But I don’t think I’ll be resting peacefully until I’ve rooted out every dissident from Serenno. I won’t have our new unity be at risk for carelessness.”

He reached for a glass of water, quenching the heat on the back of his tongue and throat with a grape following into his mouth.

“There is much infighting in many of the Houses, obstructing our progress. Some have stabilized and are contributing to the cause. This infighting will only get worse until it’s reached to the point of another civil war.”

“I guess you can say I am finding advisors and counselors to help me ease the decision making,” a small chuckle from his mouth.

“I can sense evil and darkness in these walls, my Lady. How can you…sleep at night with such ominous vibes surrounding you?”

Beatrix Caedrin​

 

[Beatrix Caedrin]

For the longest of moments, it appeared Beatrix would have nothing to say. She looked at Dorin, as he helped himself to refreshments, with a distasteful gaze. But she let her face fall flat again before he had the chance to see it. "You're very brave to hunt them all down, Lord Dorin." Beatrix finally replied, leaning over to serve herself a cup of warm, sweet tea. "Unity is always threatened by those who walk hand in hand with chaos. I admire your drive. Serenno has certainly found it's peace in your gracious hands." The words were thicker then honey, and no less sticky. Beatrix could taste the foulness of them, even as she leant back to drown her taste buds in her tea.

She believed none of it. In essence, by coming back and picking through the survivors he was damming Serenno to an eternity of nothingness. Where they once stood tall and proud, shoulder to shoulder with the mighty and great, they now cowered. Behind a grey flag and even greyer faces. Serenno was doomed.

Beatrix turned her gaze back onto Dorin has he continued to speak. There would be little to no chance of completely quelling the infighting between houses. Some of the houses had been battling as far back as any history book on Serenno could remember. It had stretched on far beyond the life of mortal kings and queens, far beyond the ticking hands of time that changed everything around them save for this. It would take nothing short of a miracle, or a curse, to bring an end to the great battle the houses seemed to wage. Thought her doubts were written plainly on her face, she did not speak again until Dorin asked his question.

Clearing her throat, she lent forward to abandon the teacup on the table in front of her. When she lent back again her cool, charcoal gaze had found a permanent resting place on Dorin's face. "Though I admit and apologise for my parent's failure and beyrayal, I cannot admit to knowing the intimate details of their plans. These walls hold nothing but pleasant memories of growing up and those cannot be overshadowed by a single night of horror. This is my childhood home first, and the place where my parents were accused of evil second. I cling to it like a sanctuary, for I fear I will find no other in these turbulent times."

Though she had finished speaking, she remained silent for as long as it took to take another sip of her tea, then she spoke again. "You have a difficult task ahead of you, picking advisors from a group such as this one." The sharp end of her nail tapped lightly on the porcelain, filling the room and her speech with sharp rhythmic clicks. "I believe you would be better rewarded by turning your attention to the generation that has been left behind. We have strange shoes to fill, and no doubt we are all equally desperate to prove that we do not share the same beliefs as our parents did."

Dorin Nalju

 

[Dorin Nalju]

C O U N T
NEW IMPERIAL ORDER
SERENNO

“I can empathize with that, Lady Caedrin,” the Lord Protector said after hearing her speak about her home and family. “I was in a situation where my extended family usurped my father, forcing me to go in exile to avoid certain death.” The Naljus was an old and great House, existing back many and many years ago; years before Palpatine’s reign over the Galaxy. Surely, most heard of the incident that happened when Dorin’s family was overthrown by lesser Naljus, aided by the Sith Empire for their fealty.

“I often look in disgust for what happens when walking my estate, but I find relief knowing I can redeem my family’s name and home from the wretched acts of my now deceased relatives.” No hint of regret or guilt in his voice as he had no sympathy over many those that were executed since the New Imperials successfully conquered Serenno, thus installing Lucien Dooku its rightful king.

“I’m happy you can find redemption from your family’s misdeeds, shows that we don’t dwell in the shadows of our predecessors,” offering a charming, yet charming smile to her.

Beatrix diverges away from the matters of her family, picking up the other topic Dorin mentioned of advisors and counselors needed for the Royal Court.

“I agree with you, my Lady. This new age on Serenno demands new blood to help guide her and her people. I honestly believe you would fit as a great candidate to help in those matters, if I may have the honors of having you serve alongside me and the king.”

“You seem very competent and skilled in politicking, not like the other nobles that are complacent and greedy to their personal ambitions.”

Beatrix Caedrin​

 

[Beatrix Caedrin]

Though Beatrix would have never allowed it to show on her face, she could not help but doubt very much that Lord Dorin could empathise. Beatrix was not mourning the loss of her family; she mourned their stupidity. Their stubbornness. Their pious dedication to the dark side, to the point where they were robbed of it eternally. She doubted very much that Dorin could empathise.

"Thank you, Lord Dorin." She bowed her head graciously. "Those words mean more to mean than I can say, although my heart breaks to know that you share such a similar misfortune. The galaxy seems to be falling apart at the seams."

As he spoke again, Beatrix found herself fazing his words out. They reeked of righteous indignation, and she could not stand the smell of it. The irony was that in attempting to prevent the "atrocities" of the Sith, the Order itself had stooped to what they deemed to be their enemies' level. The pedestal they stood themselves on was nothing more than an embarrassment that the rest of the galaxy were too cruel to tell them about.

Beatrix was all too happy to be amongst them. It made them easy to manipulate.

Again, she found herself smiling at him.

"Thank you once again, Lord Dorin. I wholeheartedly agree. It does no good to dwell in darkness, and therefore my reasoning to stay in this house is tenfold. I must shake the shadow of my parents' failures and rebuild something new for House Caedrin to stand proudly on."

Beatrix had the good grace to look mildly surprised at Dorin's suggestion, as though she had not seen it coming. As though it had not been an intended consequence at all. "I'm flattered, Lord Dorin. Truly. That you would have the good grace to overlook the darkness that lingers over this house enough to offer me this position." She placed a hand over her chest, as though her heart were truly aflutter. "How could I refuse?"

Rising her hand, her fingers danced lightly to signal a servant, who appeared almost immediately. "Champagne." She asked, without looking back. "We finally have something to celebrate."

Dorin Nalju ​

 

[Dorin Nalju]

C O U N T
NEW IMPERIAL ORDER
SERENNO

“The sins of our predecessors are not ours to burden, Lady Caedrin. I won’t have you quartered for crimes not done by your own hand,” still maintaining that charming smile beaming at Beatrix; his charm was always distinct in his family, admired or envied. Being noble in one’s nature often rewarded that trait, a good thing to have when wooing people with just a look and a few words.

Content he was when the Caedrin matriarch gave him a quick answer to his request, a definite yes to joining the royal court as one of Lucien Dooku’s advisors.

“I am delighted to hear that answer, my Lady. Along with the bottle of champagne, I don’t think we alone can drown the whole bottle,” an attempt of a small joke as the servant immediately came with a bottle of fine champagne with two well artisan glass cups for the two nobles. The cups were filled nearly to the brim, each one handed with care to their respective hands.

Immediately, Dorin stood up from his seat and walked towards Beatrix side with his glass goblet raised up in a toast. “To the future and to prosperity to all of Serenno,” enthusiasm in his voice, optimistic and hopeful for Serenno’s new age. A hand did reach out for Beatrix’s, extending his trust and faith in the woman despite her family’s dark history. She gave him the confidence that she was unlike the generation before her, and was a promising rose blooming from the withered weeds.

Beatrix Caedrin​

 

[Beatrix Caedrin]

"Eloquently put, Lord Dorin. But if we cannot at least look back on their mistakes to learn from them then it is we who purposefully shoulder their burdens."

When the servant arrived with the champagne, and Dorin spoke again, Beatrix did at least have the decency to reward him with a small laugh. "I think you underestimate a noble's ability to hold their drink, Lord Dorin." She smirked as she stood to meet his toast with one of her own.

Yet, when he offered out his hand, she hesitated momentarily.

It was like a fanfare, announcing that this was no longer a game. Nor was it a half-cooked plan in the back of her mind. This was not the wilful imagination of a child or the eccentric memories of a dreamer. This was reality, and she was either ready to accept it or not.

As their glasses clinked together, filling the room with reverberations, Beatrix placed her hand into his.

Images of her uncle, her mother, and her father had flashed through her mind like a picture reel. She would not fail as they had failed. She would not let House Caedrin slip and crumble to dust as many other houses had before them.

She was as ready as she would ever be.

"To Serenno, and to our newfound friendship." She agreed with a smile of her own.

Dorin Nalju ​

 

[Dorin Nalju]

C O U N T
NEW IMPERIAL ORDER
SERENNO

Warm to the touch her flesh was, only to masquerade how cold and evil she was. A rose to prick her victim and take blood for their trespasses to which Doors certainly has trespassed against Beatrix. As beautiful and enchanting the rose was he certainly would be lured to it.

A smile after the toast before each drinking the champagne at their hands, a delicacy to have the finest craft of Serenno and enjoy it.

“Delicious,” complimenting its taste. “I’m happy you could share the bottle with me, my Lady.”

Still her hands in his own, not departing from each other. It was hard to distract himself from her face as their standards in high society often dictated them it was inappropriate and debauchery. Old traditions passed down generations upon generations, though they were the new ruling caste of Serenno and no one to monitor them.

“Though, if I may say, I’d be more than delighted if I can have more of your time,” a confident smirk before taking another drink of champagne.

Beatrix Caedrin​

 

[Beatrix Caedrin]

"I'm sure you would…" Beatrix replied with a smile as she lifted the glass to her lips to indulge in another sip. They had been more than prepared for his visit, but Beatrix had heard whispers of his abilities to find trouble where there was none.

If he absolutely insisted on staying, Beatrix would take matters into her own hands.

"Well then, since you seem to be so keen on monopolizing all my time, I require a second opinion on something." With her hand still wrapped around his, Beatrix began to guide Dorin out of the sunroom. "Follow me." She led him through the tall corridors of Caedrin manor, up the central spiralling staircase that joined onto a balcony running the entire second floor.

She continued until they had walked half the length of the balcony, stopping in front of a set of pristine double doors hand carved from wood. They were already half-open. "My parent's room. Or mine now, I suppose." Beatrix said as pulled him through the threshold. "Not exactly the most interesting room in the entirety of this manor from first glance…" She walked over to a bookcase set into the wall itself and danced over the volumes until she came to rest on a crimson leather-bound book. Tilting it slightly, there was a click from somewhere within the walls, then the entire bookshelf slid open on invisible rails.

What lay behind were a few steps that led into a circular room, filled to the brim with all manner of tomes and artefacts and holocrons. Beatrix had been through this personally when her parents had been taken, of course. The most important and valued items were kept elsewhere. The rest of this was, to the trained eye, mostly junk. But to anyone else not familiar with sith memorabilia, it was a treasure trove. "We're still in the midst of clearing it all out, but I'm not quite sure what to do with the room itself."

Dorin Nalju ​

 

[Dorin Nalju]

C O U N T
NEW IMPERIAL ORDER
SERENNO

Hands together as Dorin was led away from the Sunroom, following Beatrix as they passed corridors and walked up stairs to the master’s chambers, arguably the biggest chamber in the whole manor. A little bit scandalous and very intimate to be led up here on the first day meeting each other. Surely rumors and gossip would spread around if anyone saw them acting this way. Gossip would always be a pastime for nobles, and a way to blackmail.

What was she thinking? Better yet, what was she planning to do? Part of him wanted to protest, but he was intrigued beyond rational thought. Wanting to discover more.

Entering the grand chambers there was more to offer than what the eye could see as Beatrix pulled a book, and presented a secret room behind a bookshelf. If he was curious, then he was surely interested to what was shown to him. Walking inside was a room full artifacts and holograms that were drenched with the Dark Side. Objects that pertained to the Sith by their aesthetics. Some were misplaced which proved they were being disposed of just like Beatrix said.

“All of it should be burned and grind to ash,” wording his disgust to the Sith artifacts on display. “I’m sure the mood will lighten up with these foul items destroyed.”

“As for repurposing the room? Well, it could serve as a dungeon, or a spare room. Definitely something more pleasant than a worship of the Dark Side,” staring at Beatrix after glancing over the room, still near the matriarch.

Beatrix Caedrin​