Two

Chapter 4

Darth Maul was true to his word. He left her food and she didn’t need to cook it. He joined her in eating some of it as the sun set. He said that the meat would be safe to eat, despite it being cold, for the next few days, should she keep it inside.

As soon as it was dark outside, Maul stood and pulled the lightsaber from the table to his hand with the Force. Nima watched in awe. He truly was a Sith, he could use the Force. He attached the saber hilt to his belt before leaving.

Nima watched the door shut and walked over to lock it before turning to look at the fire. It was now only a few glowing embers, nothing that would catch fire. Turning to the bed, she climbed under the blankets and closed her eyes.

The bed was better than she was used to but Nima tossed and turned in an attempt to get comfortable. Part of her was terrified that a bounty hunter would storm through the door and take her back to Nal Hutta, despite being far, far away from the wretched planet. Still, it made her heart race and the fear didn’t vanish even though she was no longer near the planet.

Pulling the blankets tighter around her shoulder made her feel a little better, no one could take away the blankets or the bed. Bed and blankets had been reserved for only the favourite slave dancers and Nima was certainly not one of them.

And yet, she couldn’t sleep.

On the table, where Maul had put his lightsaber, was the knife she had stolen. It was a little too far away to grab, even when she was leaning over from the bed. It was annoying, the knife was too far away for her to grab and defend herself with, should she wake up to someone storming into the hut.

Reluctantly, she moved from under the warmth of the blankets and grabbed the knife. She could hide it underneath the pillow. Then, if someone entered who wasn’t Maul, she could use it against them. If Maul entered and he had decided to harm her, she doubted she’d have any chance of evading him, he was a Sith.

Even with the knife under her pillow, her sleep was restless.

Groaning, Nima rolled away from the window. Despite the window's small size, the bright sunlight had managed to wake her up. For a minute, she wasn’t sure where she was, only to remember the events of the previous day. Rubbing her eyes, Nima reached underneath the pillow for her knife. Holding it tightly in her hand, she pulled the blankets off her with her other hand.

Cautiously, she walked towards the door, unbolted it and pulled it open. Nima stepped outside and walked around the hut. There was no sign of the Sith that had brought her to the planet, he had not returned yet. There was also no sign of anyone else either. Satisfied that no one would interrupt her, Nima headed back inside, shut the door, bolted it shut and returned to the meat. He had said the meat would be safe to eat for a few days with whatever he had done to it.

Nima tried not to eat too much, she needed it to last for a few days since she didn’t know when Maul would return. Once she had finished eating, Nima headed down to the lake she had seen the day before.

The water was incredibly clear and she could see some fish swimming in the deeper water. She hesitantly put her hand in the water, it was cool. Pulling her hand out, it seemed fine. The water was safe.

After double checking that there was no one around, Nima carefully removed her clothes, set her knife on top of them, and headed into the water to clean herself. She hadn’t realised how much she had needed to bathe. That was one thing she was more accustomed too. Sometimes the people they were dancing for wanted clean or cleaner slaves.

Nima felt more comfortable in the water as she bathed and watched the sun rise higher in the sky. When she was finished, she grabbed her knife and wandered around the edge of the lake as she dried off. As soon as she was dry, she returned to her clothes and slipped them back on.

Hearing her stomach rumble, she headed back to the hut to eat more of the meat that she had. It was odd, being able to fetch food to eat whenever she was hungry. But she liked it. Food couldn’t be withheld from her because of her dancing either. Maul didn’t seem like the type of man to do such a thing, especially after all that he had done for her so far. Unless he expected something in return for what he had done so far.

Once she had finished eating, Nima decided to wander around the lake more, if she kept close to the edge, she wouldn’t get lost when she reached the trees that were on the other side.

After she walked around the lake, Nima lay down in the hut. The door was bolted shut and she had managed to start a small fire. Her legs ached a little, she wasn’t used to walking such distances. Nima ate a little more of the meat and though it tasted dry and bland, she couldn’t bring herself to complain, even if it was to no one but herself.

The small fire was dying and Nima had nothing to fuel it with. She didn’t want to head outside to find wood in the dark so she decided it was best to sleep. With the knife under the pillow, Nima pulled the blanket over her and closed her eyes.