The Art of Chaos and Darkness

Chapter Twenty Two

Din's chambers were luxurious and spacious.  

Easily the nicest accommodations he'd ever been given.  He kept eyeing the door that he knew led to Valda's adjoining quarters.  Finally, after an hour of contemplating the scene in the throne room over and over again he rose and knocked on the door.

At first there was no response, but then Valda's voice.  "Come in." 

The door hissed open and Din gaped at the room that opened up before him.  Ornately decorated and flickering in golden light.  Three couches occupied the main room and vines of a plant he'd never seen before lined the walls, the blood red blooms stark against the grey of the walls.  Valda appeared around the corner from the bedroom and Din stared at her, at the woman he'd seen murder her fellow Sith in the throne room to reclaim her spot.

She'd changed clothes, wearing tight black pants and shirt beneath flowing robes that matched everyone else's in the academy.  Although hers seemed to be a bit more form fitting, more feminine in the way they draped and hugged her body.  She followed his gaze to the flowers.  "They're called Night Roses.  They only bloom once the sun sets."

"They're beautiful." 

She nodded and then descended down the few stairs and into the sitting room.  "I just met with my master.  He's taken an interest in you.  An alliance could be potential." 

"And my only gamble to stay alive." 

Her eyes glinted in the dim light.  "Possibly."  

Din recognized the thin silver band she wore across her brow, the same one from the vision he'd seen in her mind.  He reached out hesitantly, through the bond, feeling for her presence on the other side.  "You're more relaxed than I've ever seen you."  Then he frowned.  "And in pain."

Valda stiffened as if she sensed what he was doing.  "We have to be careful with this.  If he senses our connection... I do not know what he will do."

"To me?"

Valda looked at him.  "To both of us."

Din noticed then the new marks around her throat.  "What happened?"

"Nothing that was not unexpected."  Valda turned away.  "I disobeyed.  Actions have consequences.  That is what keeps us in unity.  Just because I am second in command of the armies does not mean I do not face the same punishments as everyone else."

Din didn't question her further, he understood.  No empire could function without keeping it's soldiers in check.  The Mandalorians had taught him this.  "So what now?"

She gave a shrug, shadows dancing in her eyes.  "Answer his questions.  Gain his trust.  If he offers an alliance it will be in your best interest to say yes." 

"I meant for you."

She paused.  "I resume the rank of second in command.  I've been tasked with acclimating you to our way of life.  Eventually he will send me off world again."

"To do what?"

Valda interlaced her fingers.  "Hunting down ancient information.  Locations of ruins.  Holocrons." 

Din filled in the blanks she wasn't telling him.  "About Jedi.  You said their presence was not your concern right now."

She let out a shallow breath through her nose.  "It's not.  But it is common belief all the true Jedi are gone.  If my master learns of the existence of them... nothing will stand in his way of annihilating them once and for all."

"That's why you didn't want to know any information on them."  Din realized and he stared at her.  "If you don't know... you're protecting them."

"I am not protecting them." Her words came out sharp.  She straightened and lowered her voice, adopting a softer tone.  "The... child whom you have a connection with is not a threat at the moment.  He is young and..." she hesitated.  "I sense you care greatly for him." 

Din's heart jumped inside his chest.  "What does that matter to you?"

Valda's eyes met his, though he knew she couldn't see through his helmet.  Finally she said, "I do not to endanger any innocent lives when it is unnecessary."  

"Valda, what will he do if he finds out you knew of this and said nothing?"

The light in her eyes shuttered.  "He will send me to kill them, regardless.  I am among other things, his assassin."  

"So you would do anything he tells you to do."

"He doesn't tell me, he commands me.  He is my master." 

Din shook his head.  "No, no."  He looked at her face.  "If he ordered you to execute me, would you do it?"

Her eyes shone.  "Din."

"Would you?"  His voice came out hard. 

She looked away from him.  "I would have no choice."

Din took a step forward.  "There is always a choice, Valda.  You told me you were free.  This isn't freedom."

The lights in the room flared and Din braced himself, waiting for an explosion of power like in the throne room.  But none came.  Instead Valda turned, dark robes flowing behind her like and obsidian river and walked through the bedroom.  Din was left with nothing to do but follow hesitantly. 

She was standing outside on a magnificent balcony, hands braced against the railing.  Her dark hair swept across her face, strands twisting in the breeze.  She stared into the dark as he came to stand beside her.  The stars glowed overhead, laid across the velvet sky. 

Valda tilted her head upward.  "You could rarely see the stars on Nar Shaddaa.  Too much light from the city, but sometimes... just a few were visible.  I used to look up at them and dream of disappearing.  Just becoming nothing."  She glanced down again.  "When he found me on Nar Shaddaa, he offered me a way out.  I was attuned to the Darkside before even stepping foot on Moraband.  It made me strong, drew him to me.  My master recognized my unnatural affinity with the darkness and has trained me to utilize it in ways I never imagined.  For the first few years I was here, I knew nothing of the Sith society or that he was in fact the King.  I wished to be powerful and strong enough so that no one would ever be able to hurt me again."

She swept her fingers along the railing.  "He trained me to embrace but also control my fear, to keep it from consuming me.  He taught me to answer the call of the Darkside, to bend it to my will.  And in turn I have become one of the most powerful Sith to exist."  

Din kept quiet as she paused, sorting out what to say next.  "As my power and strength grew I came to understand I could do more with it.  During those first few years I made a vow to myself.  When I rose to power, I would return to Nar Shaddaa and dismantle the Hutt Cartel.  I would free the slaves, grant them refuge within Sith society.  I would free those like me, and rescue those who thought escape and freedom were never possible." 

Din tried to feel out her emotions, sense what was occurring inside her head.  But whatever it was, Valda had under lock and key.  She turned to face him.  "But the Darkside is an intoxicating power.  The more I use it, the more I have to give myself over.  The more it becomes a part of me.  But I will do whatever it takes- destroy whoever it takes to rise to power and keep my vow to free those slaves."

The breeze stirred the hanging lights around them.  "Even if it means destroying yourself?"  

Valda raised her hands.  "Look around, Din.  I'm drowning in luxury while people still suffer.  No one will save them unless I do it.  And I need this power to do it."

"But you're sacrificing yourself.  If the Darkside of the Force is so dangerous and consuming, is it worth the risk?"  Din studied her face.  "What happens when you go too far, Valda?"

She braced her hands against the railing.  "If I don't do this, no one will.  And thousands more will suffer."

"But that is not your burden to bear." 

"Well, I've made it mine."  She closed her eyes.  "There must be a reason for this power.  The Jedi would condemn me for it but I will use it to destroy those who deserve it.  If the laws of the Republic's justice system were applied, the cartel would just weasel it's away out again."  She opened her eyes.  "No.  They do not deserve justice or a second chance.  I will destroy them." 

Din swallowed at the malice in her voice, the absolution.  "I understand," he told her.  "And I don't judge you for it." 

The briefest of smiles flitted across her face.  A gentle breeze blew in from the sandy ground below them, rustling the palm fronds.  Strands of Valda's onyx hair blew across her face. 

Without thinking, Din reached up to brush them from her cheek but before he could touch her,  Valda took a step back and the space between them seemed to widen into a chasm.  Silence reigned for a few heartbeats. 

"They're here," Valda said finally.  "The Kings Guard.  To escort us."  She disappeared into the bedroom.  

Din remained where he was, feeling the ghost of her skin on his fingertips though he had never touched her.  He looked out across the black expanse of the desert.  Here he was, a non-descript bounty hunter,  a Mandalorian suddenly become the last Child of the Watch and ruler of Mandalore in the heart of the Ancient Sith kingdom.  All of the tools he needed to protect Grogu and bring the Mandalorians out of the shadows were falling at his feet.  He let out a breath and then turned to join Valda as they were escorted back to the throne room.

Time to embrace the darkness.