Pendulum Swings Closer to the Slaughter
By: Cariel
That little witch survived! He had spent much time and effort getting the proper concoction of the toxin. He had not expected Vader would be able to find out. She nearly died, but then he saved her!
Palpatine hissed at the thought.
Well, it had taken Vader quite a while to catch on. Much longer than it would have taken Palpatine.
Though he found out through her medical records that she was unable to have children, Dormé was still a threat to his Empire. Vader was his apprentice and he would be damned if anyone distracted Vader from his training. He also thoroughly believed her death would be as effective as Padmé’s was in increasing Vader’s lust for the dark side.
And yet she still lived. This was something that needed attending to, but for his next attempt on her life, he needed something big. If subtlety wasn’t working...
Chaos was what Palpatine needed to distract his apprentice long enough for a well-aimed strike against his whore of a wife.
Yes, he thought gleefully, peering into the future. Chaos.
He chuckled manically in his utter brilliance.
It had been quite a long time since Dormé last heard from her old friend and former fellow handmaiden, Moteé Veers. Part of the reason she thought Moteé took so long in responding to her last message was that she was still bitter that Dormé had not ever come to visit her after she gave birth to her first child, a boy named after Max’s father. Dormé insisted she really had not had the time, but Moteé felt she was being jilted as Dormé certainly had not invited her to the celebration in which she had been named Lady Vader.
The tension was underlying and Dormé was unaware of most of it, until today.
Moteé gleefully informed her that she was going on holiday with her family to a luxurious spot in Naboo’s Lake District. It was a very expensive vacation for a lieutenant to afford, Dormé thought, though she did not say this aloud. In fact, the spot was a place Dormé longed to visit and often spoke of in the wee hours of the night when she and Moteé gossiped and fantasized about all the things they would do one day. However, even with all the power she had as the wife of Lord Vader, it did not afford her the time to get away very often, especially not to Naboo.
Though Vader and she often spoke of her home and traditions, they rarely if ever decided to actually go there, for it held too many memories that were best left in the dust. The death of her former mistress and his first wife was something that though they had gotten past, did not want to bring up.
‘I hope you have a lovely time,’ Dormé told her. ‘I’ve always dreamt of going there.’
‘I know you have,’ Moteé replied with a grin and a wink. She pulled her young boy onto her lap. ‘Now wave bye-bye to Auntie Dormé,’ she told him.
‘BYE!’ he said.
‘What a smart boy. Good boy!’ Moteé praised her son with a purpose.
Dormé crossed her arms, trying hard not to let this all bother her as she said her farewells to her friend.
The holo image faded and disappeared.
Dormé sighed.
As the holo faded, Dormé mentally calculated how many years she had known Moteé, trying to recall the good times they had spent together to be rid of the unpleasant thoughts her friend implanted. It was hard to see that Moteé had used and manipulated her on countless occasions. It was hard to see that Moteé always enjoyed gaining an advantage over her or teasing her a bit too long about something or another.
But after everything that had happened in her life, there was a part of Dormé that wanted, needed to cling to the past. She did not stay in contact with her family or other relatives and Moteé was the closest thing she had to family. The other handmaiden ‘sisters’ paled in comparison to the friendship Moteé extended to her over fifteen years ago.
Vader had been skimming over some over some of the holo maps of the Rebel bases which would soon be removed, while Dormé was ending her call. He approached her silently, having not overheard their conversation. He placed his hands on either side of her arms, gently rubbing them. ‘You all right?’ he gently asked.
She barely registered the sound of Vader moving through their living areas, but the touch of his hands on her arms, drew her attentions to him and out of thoughts of the past. ‘Hmm? Oh, I’m fine,’ she said, albeit unconvincingly. ‘How are the preparations? Do you need any help?’
The Sith Lord furrowed a brow and gave her a glance that revealed he was not so convinced that she was all right. He did not press the matter further, offering silent comfort instead as he slipped his arms around her waist, holding her close. At her attempts to change the topic, he only shook his head before kissing her cheek. ‘Everything is ready when we are,’ he said gently.
She looked to her husband after he kissed her cheek. With his arms around her, she felt Moteé’s words drifting away. As always, his charming expression and arms around her distracted her from less than pleasant thoughts. All of this brought a small smile to her face. Anything anyone else had was nothing compared to this. It was she, Dormé, who held the honour of calling Vader her husband. It was she, not Moteé who would reap the rewards the violently enforced peace would bring the Empire. What was a Nabooan holiday compared to that? Moteé never did take up her offer to visit the Delayan lake house Anakin had commissioned for her...
She refused to admit to herself that it wasn’t the vacation she envied, but rather the child she was unable to have that bothered her. ‘And I am ready when you are,’ she replied softly, giving his waist a squeeze before moving to wear they kept his armour.
At her words and actions, Anakin’s smile widened slightly as he gave her a quick kiss. ‘I suppose we could get ready. Especially since we wouldn’t to keep our adoring enemies waiting for too long now would we?’ he said with a wry smirk.
Just as Dormé moved to begin helping him with his armour, he caught her by the waist to give her a ‘quick’ kiss which she enthusiastically returned. ‘Very funny,’ she replied with a grin. ‘At this rate we will never get out of here and who are we to disappoint?’
Little did they know what Palpatine had been planning, five years in the making…
Anakin sent her a lopsided grin, chuckling as he played innocent. ‘It’s only one kiss... Besides, it’s not like I can really enjoy your beauty when I’m stuck in the armour, so who can blame me for enjoying it when I can,’ he said with an impish grin. Turning more serious Anakin then moved to put on the chest plate and the rest of his armour though his eyes never once left Dormé. My beautiful queen, how lucky I am to have you, he inwardly thought unaware that once more the nightmares that had been plaguing him once again was about to become a dangerous reality.
To his act of innocence, she could only shake her head as she proceeded to hand him the various pieces of his armour. He could not hide the nightmares from her. They started up again with a vengeance these past few nights, though they had bee on and off for the past few months. She had become used to them and sometimes slept through them or at least pulled him back to her, mumbling words of reassurance.
Today, Vader seemed to be taking a little more time than usual with the armour and though in the back of her mind she would remember it as precognition later, right now she was having too much fun teasing him about it to pay it any mind.
Ready to help with the final pieces of the mask which would shield his face from her, she stood on tiptoe to give him a proper kiss. As it is never only one kiss with you, so it never is with me, she thought before finally breaking away from his lips to put the helmet in place.
Slowly, he put on the pieces of armour that would transform him into what the world had come to recognize and fear. But despite the impenetrable image that would be cast for all to see Vader’s thoughts were growing ever distracted and torn. Inwardly he remembered the nightmares of the night before and of the ones that came before it. They were growing more frequent now and far more vivid marking that something was about to go wrong and soon.
Instinctively his fingers drifted briefly to his lightsaber. Lightly they traced along the outlines of the symbol Dormé had carved for him -a gift he would forever cherish from his beloved wife and soul mate. Somehow, it helped clear his thoughts a bit just as it served to remind him of the other trials they had been through in the past. For despite the nightmares of before they were always victorious and for all his fears Dormé was still here unharmed.
With this thought in mind, he could not help but smile as he leaned in to meet Dormé’s kiss just as she rose to the balls of her feet. Instinctively he picked up her thoughts and drew in closer as he eagerly returned her kiss.
May the fires of our love consume and devour all that dares to stand against us, he whispered into her thoughts through the Force. Then with ought another word their kiss came to an end as Anakin placed on the final piece of the visage that aided in making him a legend to be feared as well as respected.
Little did he realize that once more his entire universe was about to teeter dangerously close to destruction...
Six years was not long to wait, for Palpatine, not at all.
With careful planning and consideration, he played both sides. The rebels that received the slightly increasing flow of leaked imperial information would have a chance to remove the whore his apprentice called wife. Of course, he did not expect the pathetic band of rebels to succeed. He did not expect they would be able to fire a shot, let alone get close enough to kill.
For this reason, he made sure to have a back-up plan, a trained assassin of Separatist origin. This, along with a band of clone troopers sent to plant specific bombs in the path Vader would tread. He knew his apprentice well enough that he was selfish and would save his own life first. He did not doubt that Vader would survive.
Everything was going as planned and it was only a matter of time before his apprentice’s little whore would be nothing more than a memory.
One of the most glorious experiences in her life was appearing by her husband’s side on the battlefield. Her finely crafted sword, a gift from her best friend, hung sheathed at her hip and the wedding bracelet which bond her to Vader caught the sunlight and sparkled from her wrist.
While everyone else seemed engulfed in chaos, she remained smooth and confident, the perfect companion for Vader’s stoic execution of violence. Her sword swished in accompaniment to the blazing hum of his red blade.
Then everything spun out of control...
Upon arriving to their destination, Anakin could not help but feel that something was wrong. Inwardly he tried to ignore the silent nagging that reminded him of the nightmares he had been having over the past months. After all the last two nightmares he had pertaining to Dormé’s passing never happened, surely this would be no different. At least he tried to tell himself this so as not to be so distracted by his thoughts that he would not sense the possible threat that were the dissidents.
But as the battle began, the nagging sensation grew worse and unconsciously Vader found himself struggling to stay focussed on the battle ahead. Inwardly he felt the need to protect Dormé more than usual for it felt as though something unseeing was hunting her. It left him feeling edgy and drawing on the dark side he tried to shield her from any possible threats without making it too obvious that he was onto whomever it was hunting her.
But then suddenly chaos was unleashed and in that moment, Vader realized that what had started out to be a standard sneak attack on the Rebels was in reality a well planned trap on their part.
An explosion separated her from her beloved, sending pieces of shrapnel shooting through her leg. Dormé cried out in pain, nearly losing her balance, but it was sniper fire that brought her to her knees.
She cursed after being shot in the shoulder, dangerously close to her heart. Clutching the area with her good hand, she fell over.
The assassin stumbled over to check on her work, only to have Dormé’s sword run straight through her. The woman’s body fell atop Dormé’s and Dormé fell into unconsciousness.
A/N: Big thanks to Jody for using Anakin’s dialogue/thoughts, etc. You freaking rock at Vader! Palpy is so evil isn’t it? XD I just keep seeing him with the ‘my apprentice is an idiot’ look on his face. That’s of course why I had to include that remark about ‘where’s Kenobi when you need him’ lol
NEW FIC IS UP! I have the first three (so far) chapters of the AU Anakin/Dormé fic entitled, The Ill-Made Handmaiden. Yes, it’s a reference to Lancelot, The Ill-Made Knight, (from T. H. White’s third book of his Arthurian tetrology, The Once and Future King, which I wrote a wondrous dissertation on for my English Literature MA). Now off you go, my saucy sithly little minions! ;)
on to chapter twelve
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