As you decide, you shall be left as you were before, and neither richer nor wiser, unless the sense of service rendered to a man in mortal distress may be counted as a kind of riches of the soul. Or, if you shall so prefer to choose, a new province of knowledge and new avenues to fame and power shall be laid open to you, here, in this room, upon the instant; and your sight shall be blasted by a prodigy to stagger the unbelief of Satan. —Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Aside from the slight drama caused by Palpatine’s cautionary probing of Dormé’s mind, the first few months with her beloved Dark Knight were as near to paradise as she could imagine. As they spent nearly all of their time together, they were blissfully unaware of the rumours now circulating. It wasn’t until a holcom call from Moteé that Dormé was enlightened to this fact.
After the usual pleasantries were out of the way, Moteé demanded to know why in the blazes she hadn’t been informed.
‘Informed of what?’ Domé wondered.
‘Your new title? Lord Vader’s concubine? I cannot understand why you would keep such news from me,’ Moteé said, her voice sounding offending.
‘Vader’s what? It’s not like you’ve been available much at all, Moteé, since you’ve been so busy with your duties and Lieutenant Veers…’
‘CONCUBINE,’ she insisted. ‘That’s nowhere near as exciting or interesting as your news! You have to tell me everything…’
‘I’m not his concubine!’ she shouted at the holo-projection of Moteé. ‘How dare you!’
‘How dare me? Everyone’s talking about it—talking about how your transfer never went through, how ever since then you two are rarely seen apart, how you’ve gone on missions with him… The rebels are calling you the Goddess of Death or some such nonsense… I even hear that you sleep in his bed…
All of this felt like a punch to the stomach. Dormé just gaped at the projection as she listened to these rumours. It was not the first time she had been the subject of scorn and dirty jokes since becoming close to Anakin, but never from her old friend.
‘Tell me you aren’t his slave, Dormé, because I do worry about you.’
‘Slave?’ Dormé could not help laughing darkly at that. ‘Hardly! I assure you, it’s entirely consensual.’
The look on Moteé’s face was priceless.
‘And I am no concubine; of that you can be certain. We are equals, Vader and I,’ she added, her voice taking on a wistful tone as she thought on her lover.
‘If you are not concubine,’ asked Moteé, ‘then what are you to him? What’s going on over there?’
‘Or what is he to me, you mean? That is a better question by far,’ Dormé replied, smiling. ‘He is my Dark Lord, my king, my dearest love and soul mate. And no one will challenge us, not even his master!’
Moteé’s face showed a mixture of derision, envy, or dark approval. It was hard to tell through the holo, but Dormé was so proud of Anakin that she did not much care what Moteé thought. As if to challenge her, Moteé deliberately showed off her wedding ring by stroking her swelling belly. ‘With your new high status, you ought to come visit me,’ she said placidly. ‘I’m due any day now and would love for my boy to meet his aunt.’ She smiled serenely at Dormé.
Dormé frowned slightly at the mention of Naboo, for as much as she missed that lush planet, she knew how it would hurt Anakin to bring it up…not to mention Moteé’s pregnant state. It was not a matter of betraying Padmé, because Vader and Dormé were confident their relationship was on an entirely different level. No, it would just bring back the horrid memories of having killed her and their child which hurt the most and Dormé wanted to prevent such pain if at all possible. Certainly, Anakin wouldn’t want to go, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t. After all, he knew very well how close Moteé and she were. ‘I would love to, my oldest friend.’
‘I’m not that much older than you,’ she teased lightly.
Dormé grinned and the transmission ended. For most of the day, her thoughts were happily distracted with thoughts of her friend and the possibility of seeing her again soon. But this was stunted by the hushed whispers she overheard from a nearby consol.
She almost could not believe it. They were actually talking derogatorily about her as an ‘attachment’ to Vader, something he could dispose of at any time, that she had no power, no control…no respect. Sure, it was obvious she did not have his Force talents, but for them to assume she had no power?
Boiling with rage, she stormed over to the gossiping officers. ‘Name and rank,’ she demanded.
They gaped at her as if she were a foreign species.
She repeated herself, glaring daggers at them until they answered her. ‘I’m going to enjoy watching my Dark Lord kill you.’
They laughed at her as she turned to leave, but she did not grant them the indulgence of turning back around. She continued on her way to tell her beloved of what had transpired. Moteé and Naboo were the furthest thing from her mind.
Those pathetic excuses for imperial officers would soon learn the full power of the Dark Side, thought Dormé as she stomped through the hallways on a mission. The bridge was her first stop and her instincts served her well.
Vader was conversing with Moff Tarkin and, to the shock of a few tech officers, she boldly approached.
Dormé wasn’t paying much attention to what Tarkin was saying, but respected the man enough to wait until he was finished before speaking to her beloved. As much as she wanted to interrupt, she refrained, knowing her concerns were not nearly as important as official business of the imperium was. Dormé waited for the Moff to finish with his report before saying, ‘We need to talk,’ to Anakin.
‘If you’ll excuse us,’ he stated coolly to Tarkin before returning his attentions to Dormé once more. Slipping a hand to the middle of her back, they departed to somewhere more private where she could speak freely.
Dormé palmed the door to the room open and after it shut behind them, she faced him. ‘It appears that a few officers,’ she purposely understated, ‘have taken to referring to me as—’
Almost shaking with fury, she had to force herself to exhale slowly, trying to calm herself down. ‘As your...concubine. I seem to have lost all respect. No one is following my orders without some reluctance or sly look or comment to their fellow officers.’ Though she was incredibly angry, she kept her voice smooth and did not raise it.
‘Who would dare say such things!’ he seethed. ‘Who are they? I want their names, so I may have the pleasure of making an example of them to all who would dare to speak or treat you in anyway that is less than proper.’ His tone was deadly. He reached out to touch her cheek. ‘I will make certain that no one ever speaks poorly of you again. You are my best friend, my closest confident and my queen. To think anything less would be an insult and a blasphemy to my love for you.’
Anakin’s words brought tears to her eyes; she was so frustrated that no one recognised their most sacred love and that she had less respect no than when she was still wearing her imperial uniform. She named the officers from the station she received. Leaning in to his touch, she tried her best to make light of the situation, she said, ‘Well I did promise them I would enjoy watching you kill them. We wouldn’t want to disappoint them.’ A slight dark smile crossed her features.
‘No, we would not. I think the sooner this matter is tended to, the sooner this malicious gossip will reach its end.’
‘Wait,’ she said, holding him off momentarily. ‘Perhaps it would be best to kill one of them, slowly...to emphasize the point. It’s just a thought,’ she offered, smiling briefly before moving through the doorway. Dormé was confident this statement would go far, but was still not so sure it would go far enough.
‘I think it’s an excellent idea,’ Anakin remarked as he followed her through the doorway. ‘It will certainly make others think twice before not giving you the respect you so rightfully deserve.’
When she entered the room in which she had received her holocom call from Moteé, one of the more brilliant officers declared, ‘Vader’s consort returns!’
The techs and other officers were wise enough to hold their tongues, for they recognised Vader’s ominous breathing and prayed their lives would not be forfeit.
Dormé didn’t bother glaring daggers at the stupid man and moved straight to the holo projector to call her friend back. ‘There’s something I want you to see,’ she informed Mr. and Mrs. Veers. A malicious smiled worked its way onto her features as she turned her full attention to her beloved.
Vader approached the unaware guilty party. ‘I find your lack of respect for Lady Dormé to be disconcerting,’ he began in deadly tones.
The man was already pale as death upon being caught in the act and tried to stammer a reply. However, the words never did escape his lips as the Sith Lord began to unleash his fury in a torturous fashion.
Though the other officers were focused on their comrade, Dormé’s eyes never left Vader. She wanted everyone to see him, his powerful presence that was not to be trifled with. She wanted everyone to know that this was her Dark Lord.
The man’s bloodcurdling screams filled the room just as his fear and pain rippled through the Force like a twisted and warped requiem. Blood began to spill from the man’s ears, eyes and nose as he dropped to the ground clutching his sides. The man shuddered and coughed up blood. Shuddered one last time, his limp body fell into a pool of his own blood.
With a dark glee, she looked back briefly at the holo of Moteé, her expression one of fear and shock. Dormé switched off the holo without further words and returned her attention to Anakin.
Facing the horrified observers in deadly silence, the Dark Lord said, ‘Lady Dormé is your superior and you will treat her as such. She is my equal and you will treat her orders as though they were given by me or the Emperor himself. Cease to give Lady Dormé the respect that she deserves, and I can assure you that you will share this man’s fate only in a much slower and more painful fashion. Speak of her in a manner that is less than respectful and I can guarantee you will receive the same treatment.’ He paused to amplify their fears before concluding in deadly tones. ‘I believe I have made myself clear. Now remove the body and tend to the mess.’ He ordered before turning his attentions to Dormé once more.
He gave the officers an ultimatum, a more perfect one she could not think of. She moved in front of him to gaze up at him as she possessively slipped her arms around him. Cursing the armour and mask he had to wear, she wished they could give them a real show, even if only for intimidation purposes. ‘I could not have said it better myself, my love,’ she said as a few of the officers began attending to the mess.
Instinctively, his hands slipped around her small form as hers wrapped around his waist. Gently, he moved to touch her cheek. ‘I will not tolerate anyone who dares to dishonour to your name,’ he said quietly though it sounded more like a challenge than a promise.
Despite their best efforts to quell the rumours, even the transmission to the Veerses only fuelled the rumours all the more. However, instead of blatant remarks, there were now hushed whispers about how Vader was using the Force to have such a beautiful woman at his side. Some said she was delusional or a pawn of the Emperor. Others said she was spying on them. The respect they gave her was only a front for their true disdain for her. Dormé still overheard them speaking of her if she entered or exited a room quietly.
One evening not more than a few weeks later, she was pouring herself a drink as she awaited her beloved’s return from a meeting with his master that she began to think their way of handling the rumours was not the most productive.
When Anakin returned, she could tell by his movements and facial expression that the meeting had not been a particularly pleasant one. Though now filled with concern for him and his stance with his master. Vader had told her of each ‘removal’ he had undertaken if she hadn’t mentioned it herself. She knew he had taken out important engineers and this was why he his master wanted to speak with him. She felt it was her fault that they were once again on unpleasant terms.
Dormé, however, didn’t speak of any of this. Instead, she moved towards him, catching him up in a tight hug as though she had not seen him in years instead of hours. There were some times that she didn’t want to talk about anything. Sometimes just a touch or kiss was enough to at least postpone talking, to forget about concerns for awhile.
She was confident in their love and deep-rooted friendship that supported it as they in turn supported each other. Dormé never questioned their feelings, but it was a whole other thing to make others believe it.
It was here in his arms that she felt at ease, no matter what else was going on in the universe. His kiss was like a soothing balm to the worst of her frustrations and the way he ran his fingers through her hair was as though he were caressing her soul in reassuring waves. Dormé felt so lucky to hold his heart and for him to hold hers in return.
After some time, she pulled back slightly to study her beloved, reaching up to touch his cheek. She always enjoyed holding his gaze, his piercing blue eyes seeing into her heart in an understanding no one else could fathom.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said, as though this was entirely her fault. As if she had personally slaughtered the Emperor’s engineers.
Vader studied her with loving eyes as he leaned in slightly to her touch on his cheek. Running a hand through her dark hair he remained silent a moment long just letting the silence between them speak volumes. But when she spoke, he furrowed his brow slightly in confusion and concern. They fed off each others emotions, feeling the other’s pain and joy alike. When one was guilty, the other bore the guilt with them and when the burdens of the world weighed on one’s shoulder, the other carried it as well.
Moving his hand from her hair to her cheek he studied her amber eyes as he spoke softly. ‘My love you have no reason to apologize. This is entirely my fault. I shouldn’t have lost my temper as I had. Its just... I just hate how everyone belittles what is so sacred. Its not right and I just can’t standby and let them do it. It’s disrespectful and degrading.’
‘I would have too, the gods know!’ she replied, knowing if she had Force powers, she probably would have killed them too for speaking ill of their most sacred love. Dormé was not in the least reproaching for his actions. At his words about his master, she couldn’t help feeling defensive of him. He didn’t know the officers in question were important to Palpatine!
He sighed deeply. Closing his eyes briefly, he frowned before continuing. ‘Unfortunately my Master doesn’t share my view and now has ordered me to refrain from silencing those who dare to spread such malicious gossip about us.’ His expression then turned a little shy as he added, ‘But I think I might have a way that would end this once and for all without compromising my Master’s orders—that is, if you are interested, of course.’
But her anger drifted, soon replaced by curiousity when his expression grew shy. A way to stop it without compromising his Master’s orders? A small smile crept onto her face as she asked, ‘And what way would this be?’
Vader sent her a sheepish smile. ‘I was thinking...Well...What do you think of the possibility of us getting married?’
Marriage? Her heart raced with joy at the thought of being able to call him Husband in addition to all the other titles her heart held for him. ‘To make our relationship official—in the eyes of others?’ she said, though her tone made it sound like a question. Dormé was trying to figure this out logically. After all, they already knew what they were to each other. It was hard to define the extent of it, but perhaps this would help others to understand.
‘Yes exactly. I mean only if you want to, of course.’
But then another thought occurred to her. ‘Would your master approve of it?’ she had to ask, only because she didn’t want to be the cause of any rift between them. She cared too much about Anakin to be the source of anything negative.
‘I don’t care what my Master thinks, to be perfectly honest,’ he admitted with a wry grin before sobering. ‘What matters to me is what you think. Your opinion means everything to me, Dorme. If you do not wish to go through with this, I’m perfectly fine with that; I hope you know that.’
As always, he was so considerate of her feelings and thoughts on the matter. Dormé hadn’t even considered how different this was to Padmé initiating their marriage. She didn’t even consider the fact Padmé orchestrated the whole thing in her strong desire to please her family, to have a ‘life’ outside of the world of politics. Right now she was too concerned with how this would affect him.
Anakin hadn’t ever made her feel pressured into anything. ‘I would be most proud to call you Husband,’ she admitted shyly though her eyes remained on him. A smile worked its way onto her features as she stroked his biceps, gazing up at him with fierce possessiveness.
Returning her fiercely possessive gaze with equal fervency, he gently touched her cheek. ‘My love, it would be such an honour to be able to call you my wife,’ he murmured before leaning in to kiss her lips.
This moment was utterly perfect and Dormé realised she had never felt so happy and alive as she did when she was with her beloved. Now the entire galaxy would be aware of their all-encompassing love, the power of their benevolence as they brought peace to the galaxy. Dormé didn’t care about anyone else in the galaxy. Vader owned her entire heart and she was beyond eager to let everyone know.
After their kiss, she asked him if he had anything in mind, as to whether there would be a ceremonial event or declaration. For in Naboo only the aristocratic or upper class families were able to afford to hire holymen or priestesses to perform marriage rites. ‘My father was actually bought by my mother’s parents for her to marry. It’s less common nowadays, but for the less wealthy families in the province I was raised in, it was a custom to buy or sell children to another family for marriages.’ Families were the central point of Naboo culture and everything revolved around families in each community.
‘So in Naboo culture it’s tradition for families to find a suitable wife or husband for their children? Do the ones involved have any say in whom they marry?’ he asked curiously.
‘Well...families can be very persuasive if you get my meaning,’ she replied slowly. Dormé watched him carefully to judge his reaction.
‘Nowadays it’s much more common to marry for love, but yes, the families are very influential on both sides of the union. Many adults want to have the approval of their family anyway though and bring a potential suitor home to meet them first.’ Dormé said all of this quickly and matter-of-factly, unaware that it was almost exactly what Padmé had done about six or seven years ago.
‘Anyway, the lower class,’ she said, feeling a bit ashamed of her own family, ‘merely house the couple together for a night and the next day they are married. There’s usually a large party with all the family members on each side. Each region of Naboo has its own tradition in the presentation of a married couple. Some tie their hands together and do a sacred walk, some jump over a small pool of water or bonfire for luck...’ She shrugged, feeling slightly self-conscious.
‘As for me, I would be happy just being announced as your wife.’ She smiled up at him, rested a hand on his chest.
Noting her self-consciousness, he reached out to touch her cheek as though offering silent reassurance. Pulling her closer, Vader studied her intently with eyes that shone with love and possessiveness. ‘And so you will be my love. I want the entire universe to know that you are mine and that I am yours. We will have a celebration that is as grand as it is beautiful. It is going to be perfect just like my bride to be,’ he said softly, gently stroking her cheek with his thumb.
A/N: I doubt Palpatine will be very happy about this…haha…
on to chapter nine
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