For Anakin, this moment almost felt too blissful to be real. Lost in dreams that were filled with his beloved, the young prince was loathed to wake up. But despite his wish to remain in the realms of dreams, his thoughts eventually forced him to slowly stir awake. Fortunately for him, reality was far better than anything he could ever imagine. Stirring awake, the sleeping prince found himself under the watchful gaze of his loving wife. Though it took him a moment to register his surroundings, it was obvious that he was more than happy to find himself in his current position. Gazing up at her with a sleepy grin, he gingerly reached out to touch her cheek. ‘For a moment, I feared you were nothing more than my imagination playing tricks on me,’ he murmured in sleepy tones as his fingers slipped from her cheek to her long tussled hair. A more perfect way to wake up, the young prince couldn’t imagine if he tried.

Dormé’s smile widened when Anakin finally awoke. She hummed and leant in to his touch, though she found it to be slightly cold, since it was his new appendage and not warm skin like the rest of him.

Anakin’s cheeks warmed as his eyes caught sight of his metallic hand for a moment he had almost forgotten about it but Dormé’s joy and gentle smile erased his fears, however it also reminded him of her own wounds. As he tightened his embrace, he gave a contented sigh before giving her a gentle look of concern. ‘Were you able to sleep well? I mean, your wounds didn’t bother you, did they?’ he asked, as he knew despite the medical aid she received it would be some time before she fully recovered.

She offered an apologetic look. ‘I’m sorry I fell asleep so early...I was just exhausted from, well from everything...but yes...Yes, I did sleep well.’ She blushed, smiling.

‘I admit I wasn’t much better. Although, you have far more reason for that than I do,’ he admitted sheepishly. ‘I’m glad you were able to get some rest,’ he continued in shy tones as his continued to run his fingers through her dark hair while his other hand did lazy circles on her back.

Dormé was relieved to hear that he wasn’t incredibly disappointed about the night before. ‘What about you? How’s your hand?’

Her question made him blush further as he grew shy. ‘...It’s fine, but it’s going to take a little time to get used to,’ he said sheepishly before growing more serious. ‘It means a lot...I...’ He fell silent as he slipped his hand from her hair around her petite form to hold her close. ‘You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me, Dormé. I am so grateful to be able to call you my wife,’ he whispered into her ear as he gave her a squeeze.

She reached up to fiddle with his Padawan braid as he spoke. His words resonated deeply within her heart as she fully allowed his proclamations in. She was unable to prevent tears of joy welling in her eyes.

He loved the feel of her fingers dancing against his Padawan braid and in the days to come this would become just one of many things he would miss. But for now, all that mattered to him was that Dormé was in his arms and that this was the beginning of their life together.

Slipping her hand from his braid to his cheek, she murmured between kisses, ‘How I love you...my beloved, my dear husband, my Anakin...’

Her words too resonated deeply with him for he knew she never spoke of such things without cause and so upon hearing her speak Anakin immediately put the words to heart, despite being distracted by her kisses and touch. This, too, would be a moment he would never forget.

Dormé couldn’t have imagined a better way to spend the day than enjoying herself with her new husband. It was so like a dream that she never thought possible and though they were still recovering from the escape, and Dormé from the torture she had endured as well, they were conscientious enough to be able to celebrate their nuptials without too much damage.

Much of the day was spent in the sanctuary of Dormé’s chambers with their breakfast and lunch brought to them by servants who left them alone. Anakin knew that, in time, they would have to present themselves as husband and wife to his parents and that he would have to ensure Dormé’s resignation was set in motion, but it was the last thing on his mind in this moment. For right now, his entire world consisted of his beautiful wife and if he had his way, it would always remain this way. His mother and stepfather felt otherwise and, much to his indignation, reality forced itself upon him once more. This time, it was in the form of one of his mother’s ladies-in-waiting, who would not stand down despite his volatile curses and tossing of pillows at the door to send them away.

‘How dare they!’ she balked at the impertinence. Didn’t they realise they were interrupting royalty?

Furious, Anakin growled as once more the door chimed before reluctantly removing himself from his beloved’s arms. ‘Dammit, that’s it. Someone’s going to die!’ he grumbled, not really meaning to kill anyone, but definitely about to give them a piece of his mind before firing them on the spot. Forcing the door to part, the young prince glared at the younger maiden in rage, not caring or even noticing the woman’s shocked and embarrassed expression at his nakedness. ‘What the urugal do you want?! What part of Do. Not. Disturb. do you not understand?!’ he shouted in fury at the woman who now was averting her eyes and trying to recover from her initial shock.

‘I’m sorry, your grace...but her majesty has requested your presence...’ she stammered in polite tones.

Though she was peeved, she couldn’t resist a chuckle when Anakin used an Uriashian curse when he stormed over to the door unabashedly naked in front of the poor serving girl. The maiden looked as though she would faint and at the sight, Dormé put a hand over her mouth to keep from giggling.

Anakin scowled and rolled his eyes. ‘Tell her I’ll see her later.’ he snapped about to shut the door again when the woman shook her head and continued in more urgent tones.

‘I’m sorry, your grace, but the Queen insists that you speak to her immediately—once you’re dressed, of course,’ she added, as her cheeks grew even rosier.

Upon hearing that his mother was insistent about seeing him, Dormé began to worry. She hoped nothing was terribly wrong.

Anakin rolled his eyes and made a face obviously not amused. ‘Fine. Tell her I’ll be there shortly. Now go and do not return. Understood?’

He didn’t need to tell her twice as the young woman was already scurrying away eager to put as much distance between the young prince and herself.

After the handmaiden left, his thoughts took a darker turn. His mother only demanded his immediate presence once before and that was on the day he learnt of his father’s death. Sensing Dormé’s concern as well, he furrowed his brow as he returned to her. ‘I’m sorry. It seems every time we want to be alone everything and everyone has to ruin it,’ he apologized before growing more serious.

Rising from the bed to walk over to Anakin, she could tell from the look on his face, that this was not a casual request from his mother. His words only confirmed it.

‘I hate to do this but I should speak to her. I have a feeling something major has happened—my mother normally doesn’t ever demand I drop everything to speak to her,’ he said softly before leaning in to steal a kiss before moving to depart to the fresher.

Dormé returned his kiss, but as he started towards the fresher, she followed him saying, ‘I’ll go with you, if you want...’ In all honesty, she didn’t want him to leave her sight, out of fear that it would turn out that none of this was real, that she was dreaming.

Anakin paused as he turned to face her. While he loved the idea of her joining him, he wasn’t certain what this conversation would entail. He knew how his mother viewed her and didn’t want Dormé to feel uncomfortable. On the other hand, he did want her to know that Dormé was now his wife and that she deserved the respect that was more than due to her. He also knew that anything and everything spoken to him would only be later shared with Dormé. If it was indeed bad news, there wasn’t anyone else he would want near for support, but Dormé. ‘I would appreciate that,’ he said softly as he touched her cheek before moving to depart once more to the fresher feeling a bit better about the entire situation.

Dormé was glad that Anakin would allow her to offer what support she could, whatever the news was and remained steadfast as he departed for the fresher. After a moment, she went to sit on the bed, wondering what this meeting would entail, before rising to have a look at the wardrobe. Until now, Dormé hadn’t had a chance to see the wardrobe, though Anakin spoke of it when he first showed her this apartment. She had no idea that he had had gowns custom made for her and to see all of this just made her heart soar. Had she found this earlier, it might have frightened her, but right now, she was gasping out of happiness. Such rich fabrics, expensive designs... It was so hard choosing one, but eventually she found something. After dressing, she pinned up her hair as she awaited Anakin eagerly.

Anakin did his best to wash up and prepare as quickly as he could. It wasn’t that he was in a hurry to learn of the news his mother wanted to share with him, rather it was his wish to be as near to Dormé as possible. Somehow, there still remained the fear that she wouldn’t be there when he emerged from the fresher. But upon washing up and putting on something comfortable, the young prince quickly returned to where Dormé was—to his sheepish relief—pinning up her hair. For a moment, he was speechless as he studied her intently and with much humble joy. Though he knew she would look stunning in the gowns he had hand picked for her, Anakin never imagined she would look quite this lovely.

Since Dormé wanted to make a good impression on his parents, she made sure to look her best, though she as well as Anakin was impatient and did not want to be separated from her new husband for long.

Soon he came to his senses and was smiling impishly at her as he joined her side. ‘If it wasn’t for the fact I know we’d be continuously interrupted, I’d say to the abyss with speaking to my mother; we have far more important matters to tend to,’ he purred, slipping his now gloved right hand around her petite waist.

Dormé promptly turned to face him, seeing his impish grin and matching it with one of her own. ‘I heartily agree,’ she said before planting a kiss on his lips.

‘But, I suppose it can wait for now. Although we’ll definitely have to make up for the lost time later,’ he concluded with a wink, unaware of just how much time he was about to lose with his newly wedded wife.

‘Much making up to do,’ she added after he said it would have to wait, although she couldn’t help kissing him again before the pair departed.

Though he was curious to learn what was to important that required his immediate presence he was already looking forward to it being over and hoped that it wouldn’t be along discussion. As they departed, the young prince was most pleased to find himself lost in another one of Dormé’s kisses. He couldn’t wait to share the news of their marriage and was already eager—despite his concerns over said discussion—introduce his mother to her daughter-in-law. As they headed to where he knew his mother would be, Anakin could sense her agitation and figured it had to do with the overdramatic handmaiden who clearly had never seen a naked man before. He didn’t pay it much heed, as it was, after all, her fault for interrupting them and demanding to see him at once. But as they entered the room where the queen resided, Anakin couldn’t resist looking a little curious as he caught his mother’s growing annoyance. He did come as requested did he not?

Dormé hoped, as her husband did, that they would soon be able to retire to their quarters once more and resume the extremely overdue time alone together. As for herself, she could barely keep her hands off him as they approached the room his mother wanted to meet him in. The journey to the room was far longer than usual due to the fact the young prince and his wife couldn’t resist pausing every few steps to share kisses and over all enjoy one another’s company.

Shmi sat in a highback chair near her husband looking every bit the prim and proper royal couple that they were. She watched the young pair enter the room, disapproval written all over her face. ‘Nice of you to join us,’ she said smoothly.

Finding both Dormé and himself under the sharp and most unpleased gaze of his parents, the young prince’s expression fell. This was definitely not going to be a pleasant discussion of that he was certain. ‘We were caught unaware,’ Anakin began as he gave a mischievous smile to Dormé.

Dormé was too caught up in her giddiness about being Anakin’s wife that she barely registered the looks of disapproval or that his mother’s tone was less-than-pleased. She matched Anakin’s impish smile with one of her own, still holding onto his arm.

Shmi took in the lovebites on both of their necks before she saw the glove over Anakin’s hand. ‘What in the blazes happened?’ she asked, referring to his hand.

‘Nevermind that,’ Cliegg interrupted. ‘Lady—’

‘Dormé,’ Shmi quietly reminded him.

Anakin immediately bristled not liking the tone of the old man’s voice or the way he was addressing Dormé.

‘Dormé, right. Lady Dormé, would you please excuse us?’ he asked, gesturing to the door.

Being addressed by the emperor tore Dormé’s attentions away from her husband.

Anakin stepped forward. ‘What? Why does she have to leave? What is the meaning of this!’ Anakin snapped before adding quickly, ‘Whatever it is you want to speak to me about, you can tell her as well. We keep nothing from each other,’ he concluded proudly.

‘If she goes now, then she will return sooner. We need to work this out with your father without her around provoking the situation!’ Shmi declared.

Anakin frowned. ‘Provoking the situation?! How dare you speak of my wife like that!’ he growled, unaware he had admitted that Dormé was his wife without a proper introduction.

Dormé’s mouth dropped open. She felt incredibly out of place and strange. Under the intensity of his parents’ gazes, she slipped up her guard once more. ‘It’s OK, Anakin, I’ll just wait outside,’ she whispered, not wanting to provoke his parents.

Anakin’s attentions returned to Dormé once more and furrowed his brow in sad concern. This was hardly the introduction he had in mind, but sensing Dormé’s awkwardness, he decided to respect her wish not to further complicate matters. ‘I’m sorry, I’ll try to be as quick as I can,’ he whispered in sincere tones before giving her a quick kiss and watching her sadly as she departed. But even before his wife had a chance to depart, Anakin’s attentions were forced back to his parents.

Dormé hardly responded to his kiss because she felt so awkward and it wasn’t until she was out of the room that she started to regain some semblance of control. She wrapped her arms around herself and started pacing.

‘What what were you thinking, Anakin?’ Shmi asked as Dormé slowly exited the room. ‘Marrying that girl without the permission of the emperor!’

Staring at them in disbelief, the young prince frowned deeply once more as he felt his temperament growing even fouler. ‘What do you mean what was I thinking? It’s not like I haven’t told you both numerous of times that I was going to marry Dormé. And why would I need my stepfather’s permission? It’s our lives not his.’ Anakin growled directing his attentions to his Mother while blatantly ignoring the Emperor himself.

‘It’s not a question of whether you married the queen, her handmaiden, or any other woman, Anakin!’ said Shmi.

Anakin just rolled his eyes at his mother’s words as he too began to pace. It was a pathetic attempt to curb his rage and clear his thoughts and for a moment it worked that was until the Emperor spoke causing him to pause.

‘You disobeyed the laws of this empire,’ Cliegg stated firmly. ‘You are a member of the royal family and it is the law. You must have my permission to marry.’

‘Do I look like I care? It’s not like you didn’t know I had no intention of marrying Padmé and it’s not news that I’ve been courting Dormé for the past two years either, so why is this such a surprise to you both?’ he snapped believing they were blowing things entirely out of proportion. ‘Besides, I dare anyone to try and challenge us on it,’ he added with a hint of a smirk.

‘There are certain rules or propriety royalty are bound to uphold and judging by your action, I would have to say that you are far too young for deciding to be married, Anakin,’ retorted Shmi.

Anakin glared at his mother in disbelief at her words. ‘Far too young!? Was is not you who arranged my marriage to Padmé when I was still a youngling? That when I turned twenty I was supposed to marry her?! So I’m old enough to marry a woman I barely know and certainly don’t love, whereas I’m not old enough to marry the other half of my soul?!’ he growled.

‘Not to mention how young that girl is. Did you even ask her parents for permission?’ asked Cliegg.

Anakin tilted his head, staring at the emperor as though he were a fool. ‘No, of course not. They passed away some time ago,’ he stated, believing this to be fact. ‘And even if they were alive, it’s not like she lives with them anyway, so why would it matter?’

‘Anakin, our family made a commitment to the royal family of the Naboo, a commitment that you have flouted without hesitation!’ Cliegg roared in response.

The young prince finally lost his temper and stepping forward, he shouted back with equal fire, ‘Padmé has no intention of marrying me either! So if you’re going to cast blame, you’ll have to blame her as well!’

‘Did she coerce you into marrying her?’ Shmi asked, honestly concerned for her son. She didn’t doubt his affections for the girl, but was still unsure of her motives.

Whirling around at his mother, he gaped in obvious shock and disgust, ‘What!? You’ve got to be joking! Have you not heard a single word I just said!? I love Dormé and she loves me. We both wanted to marry each other and so we got married!! If you have a problem with that, then you’ll just both have to learn how to deal with it!’

Though Dormé couldn’t understand what they were saying, she could hear Anakin growling at his parents and paused mid-step, her brow knitting in concern.

Shmi sighed, resisting the urge to shake her head. Anakin was acting like a child and it was hard to take his protestations of love seriously, nevermind the fact that she still found it hard to believe that this handmaiden married her son because she loved him. ‘

His mother’s sigh grated his nerves just as their emotions through the Force added to his foul state of mind.

From the scars or battle wounds as you proudly proclaimed them to the universe, it made us think she has other intentions,’ Shmi said.

The young prince utterly forgot himself and without warning, kicked over a table that stood in the centre of the room. Both the table and its contents of expensive and rare vases and flowers flew across the room and shattered from the force used against it.

Dormé overheard the sound of furniture flying across the room and things smashing. Her concern mounted and she wanted to return inside to see that everything was all right, but when the sound of Anakin’s voice resonated through the door, she decided against it.

‘Other intentions!? What the iquicha is wrong with you!? Dormé is my beloved, my wife, and your daughter-in-law. She is a princess by the standards of our people and you have no right to question her intentions, nevermind treating her as though she is a second class citizen!!’ Anakin screamed in reply. ‘I know Dormé better than both of you will ever know her and I know for a fact she would never do such a dishonourable thing. She loves me for who I am, not what I am and that is why she married me in the first place!’

Cliegg, on the other hand, was thinking more about this woman’s position as a possible mistress, leading him to think of other possbilities for their marriage. ‘Is she pregnant?’

Shmi’s eyes grew wide, wondering why she hadn’t thought of that.

Though this was obviously not the case, Anakin’s temper was for the moment subsided. He always wanted to have children and the thought of having a bunch of younglings to call Dormé’s and his own was a wonderful thought indeed. ‘No, but Force willing, hopefully soon,’ he replied with a hopeful smile.

Shmi’s neck and face flushed at the exchange between Cliegg and Anakin. How nonchalant Anakin was about this, and how passionately he spoke of the girl. There would be no reasoning with him, or bending his arm to get out of it. Luckily, she had thought of this possibility ahead of time and with the extra time it took for Anakin to show up this afternoon, they had had a chance to discuss other options. She sent Cliegg a nod, indicating they would have to resort to the next option.

Anakin’s eyes narrowed as he noticed the exchanged of the looks between his parents. ‘What? What’s going on!?’ he demanded, knowing from their expressions that whatever it was it was certain to be bad.

‘The girl will be returned to the Naboo until the formal engagement is announced—’ Cliegg began.

With his stepfather’s words came a new rush of blind rage causing the young prince to cut the man off before he had a chance to finish his sentence. ‘ABSOLUTELY NOT!’ the Padawan screamed about to grab his lightsaber to show the seriousness of his intentions only to remember that it was still lying on the floor where he had dropped it the night before. ‘YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO DO THIS! SHE IS MY WIFE! MY WIFE, YOU HEAR ME?! SHE IS NOT GOING TO RETURN TO ANYONE OR ANYWHERE UNLESS IT IS BY MY SIDE WHERE SHE BELONGS!!’ he continued to scream as he began to tear the room apart via the Force and by his own hand.

Cliegg and Shmi remained seated unfazed by his response. In their minds, he was just a young boy who was acting spoiled, though they really didn’t have anyone to blame except themselves, Shmi mostly.

Upon hearing the room being virtually ripped apart by the Force, Dormé entered hearing Anakin’s yelling and destroying everything. Had it been under different circumstances, Dormé probably would have poked fun at Anakin or gave him a good talking to for destroying the room, she was too concerned about what this conversation had ended up costing them to say anything. Instead of bowing upon entry as she ought to, she approached Anakin.

‘You try and I swear to you I will stop at nothing until she has been safely returned home! Here. In the palace where she belongs!!’ he continued to shout as chairs flew across the room and tapestries were shredded before the lights overhead exploded as his volatile emotions resonated through the Force.

‘You will be married to her formally, as a royal, in the palace not in some back lot of a cantina!’ Cliegg roared at Anakin..

‘A cantina!? What sort of person do you take me for?! As if I’d ever do that to her!’ he bellowed back in rage as his cheeks burned in humiliation. It still shocked him to think that his parents of all people would regard his relationship with Dormé so poorly. He believed that by now, they should know how serious they were about each other and it was infuriating to learn otherwise.

‘If this is going to be done, it shall be done properly,’ Shmi added, trying to fake a smile at the girl, but having little luck despite her experience with diplomacy.

Only now taking notice of Dormé’s presence, the young prince slipped his arm around Dormé’s waist before reaching to take her left hand into his right. ‘Properly. So you are going to respect the fact we are meant for each other and not interfere with the decision we’ve made?’ he asked in guarded tones.

Dormé thought it was pointless as they were already married, but eventually realised that it had been illegal and wasn’t recognised by his parents.

‘Yes, but that means you must follow proper forms of behaviour, which includes returning her to the senatorial district to the queen until a formal engagement is announced,’ Shmi insisted.

One minute he thought he was gaining ground with parents and the next he found himself back at square one. ‘Wait a minute I thought you just said you were going to respect our marriage now you’re pretending that it doesn’t exist?!’ he exclaimed in shock. Only moments ago, he believed that his parent’s reference to a proper public ceremony pertained to the proclamation of their marriage.

‘There is much cleaning up we have to do after your rash decision, politically as well as socially regaining what’s left of this family’s dignity.’ She rose from her chair and approached Dormé, giving her a stare down before telling the girl she was to leave with her.

Dormé didn’t feel at all comfortable about this, but didn’t feel she had any choice in the matter. She finally looked away from Anakin and bowed her head in reverence to the emperor before moving to leave, her brow furrowed in confusion and regret.

‘Wait what are you doing!? Have you not heard a word I said? You can’t keep us apart we’re married!’ he said as his eyes never left Dormé’s. Her expression of defeat tore at his heart and quickly he moved to tighten his embrace around her only to have more move in preparation of departure.

‘You can’t do this!’ he almost begged as his attentions flickered back to his mother before moving to stop Dormé from departing. ‘You can’t. It’s not fair! You have no right to keep us apart! We belong together whether you like it or not!’ he began to shout as panic flooded his thoughts.

‘You will do as is required of you. By agreeing to allow you to marry, you will respect tradition, Anakin,’ said Cliegg, laying a firm hand on the boy’s shoulders, though this did little to deter him.

Despite all his powers through the Force, he didn’t dare move as his stepfather’s words sunk in. ‘This isn’t fair,’ he hissed as he struggled with his sorrow and rage.

Dormé knew, as she followed the empress, that if she looked back, she would lose her resolve, but this didn’t prevent her from glancing back to Anakin. She didn’t believe this was fair either, but felt she had little say in the matter. Her eyes filled with tears, not wanting to leave. They had only just found themselves in each other as they were meant to and now it felt like it was being ripped away from them.

Watching as his Mother moved to depart with Dormé the young prince furrowed his brow as he found his heart sinking further at the reality of the situation. As though sensing his growing despair, Dormé glanced back and for a moment their eyes met—amber on azure. Like his beloved, his own eyes were filled with tears and through the Force he softly whispered into her mind, Do not worry, I’m going to come for you, my love. I promise. It was only with this promise that he was able to maintain his composure and not lose himself to his despair or his rage.

As much as Dormé longed to run back over to Anakin, she knew it would only be another mark against her. She knew she ought to be thankful for being granted the opportunity to officially marry him, whatever that meant, but seeing the tears in his eyes only made this all the worse. Her gaze was interrupted when the empress’s hands grabbed her by the shoulders in an effort to guide her out of the room as though she were a youngling. But she heard Anakin’s whisper through the Force and it was this that prevented her from shedding her tears, at least until she was alone.

His eyes never left her petite form as his mother proceeded to escort his wife out. In silence, he could watch until she was out of sight. Once alone with his stepfather, the young prince said not another word as he quietly shrugged off the older man’s grip on his shoulder before departing himself.

---

Having to return to the handmaidens’ quarters was not as humiliating as she expected though, mostly because they had thought she was dead and this outweighed whatever rumours abounded about her marriage to the prince. But even this mattered little to her, for she missed her husband terribly. And when someone offhandedly mentioned they heard the prince saved her, she couldn’t help breaking down and admitting what weighed heavily on her mind: that they were already married but were forced apart do to the laws of the Empire.

It was not long after Dormé returned to the handmaidens’ quarters in the Senatorial district that they were leaving for Naboo. Dormé wanted to protest, but resigned to her mistress and mentor, portraying the queen once more as they departed for their homeplanet. To say Dormé was lackadaisical was an understatement, but as with many other trying times in her life, she was able to put up a convincing front. She doubted anyone could tell that anything was bothering her.

Back on Naboo after everything that happened was extremely surreal. In her old bed she had slept in since she was thirteen, it was as though none of it had happened. That she and Anakin hadn’t fought, that she hadn’t been captured, that he hadn’t tried to rescue her, and that they hadn’t married. But Dormé knew this wasn’t the case, because she still had one of the gowns Anakin had specially made for her. It was no dream. It’s not a dream. I’m married to Anakin. He’s going to come for me... she reassured herself, though after the first night away from him and another day passing, she was beginning to think his parents had convinced him otherwise...

She spent the next day going over every single detail of her capture, including finally alerting them to the death of the other two handmaidens and Count Dooku being a Sith lord. It was kind of important information that they Jedi Council needed, but Dormé had no use for the Jedi Order, save for one Jedi Prince, and hadn’t thought of telling one anything about it.

---

The next couple of days were the longest of his life and between torrents of rage, despair and sorrow the young prince tried desperately to make contact with Dormé. However any time he tried to reach her she was always out on duty or unable to be reached. The prince somehow doubted this truly was the case and it infuriated him to no end that all contact with Dormé had been denied him. Though it had only been one night that they had been apart the prince felt it had been a million years. Without her by his side, he could not sleep and the lack of rest only added to his irritable mood and fits of rage that would result in despairing sorrow. Needless to say, everyone did their best to avoid the young prince, which in the end proved most advantageous as it bought Anakin time to begin his plans to once more rescue his beloved and return her home where she belonged...

Things have a strange way of coming together and this couldn’t have been truer for the young prince who was still utterly livid over his parent’s decision to send Dormé away. As if it wasn’t bad enough that they wouldn’t recognise the fact they were husband and wife—thus making Dormé a princess—but they ensured she would have to return to her old title of handmaiden and decoy. Needless to say, all the replaced furniture from his previous fit of rage during their break-up was now strewn all over the room in pieces, but even this did little to ease his fury.

However, falling back onto the words of his mentor and half brother, Anakin decided it was time to bury his anger and focus on the task of rescuing his wife from her duties to the Naboo Queen. Dormé was a princess now and thus had no right to serve another especially seeing she was the one who was meant to be served. Most importantly however was the fact that as his wife Dormé was meant to live with him and being apart from her was not only unfair it wasn’t right.

‘You should be happy; I’ve just spared you from having to marry me!’

‘Yes, that is definitely a relief, to put it mildly. But it still doesn’t change the fact that you went about it all wrong.’

Anakin could still recall his words to Padmé and her chastising response. He had hoped she would have been more understanding of the situation but like everyone else, she didn’t take his marriage to Dormé seriously. In her mind, Dormé was to become Anakin’s mistress not his wife and was now more concerned about how this would affect the alliance between Naboo and Coruscant. While she had no intention of being associated with the Empire, the Naboo queen wanted to remain on good terms with the Coruscanti. The thought was infuriating for the young prince and resulted in them parting ways on less than polite terms.

Now he found himself falling back onto Plan B, which in his mind, was hardly a good plan at all. While Kei was reliable—as reliable as one can expect—he hardly respected his relationship with Dormé and regarded it more as a joke than anything else. To him Dormé was just a mistress in the making, a second to the woman he was actually meant to marry. He also believed their relationship ended when Anakin professed his love to her.

Just as he was about to contact the young nobleman, he instead found himself being distracted by a chime on the door. Furious at the fact someone obviously didn’t have the sense to leave him alone the young prince stormed to the door and used the Force to make it part as he glared at the last person he ever expected to see.

‘Anakin, I’m not supposed to really be here so if anyone asks, tell them the last you heard I’m on route to Alderaan okay?’ Kei said quickly as he stepped inside leaving an utterly speechless Padawan staring at him in disbelief.

‘What in the blazes are you doing here, Kei? I was just about to contact you,’ he balked surprised at his turn of luck and now wondering how Kei made it past security. He then remembered the fact Mikal’s father had contacts here, which explained it all. Those two had a way of getting around without being seen and it was because of this that Anakin found himself deciding to risk the chance of involving Kei and Mikal in his little rescue operation.

While the reasons for Kei’s arrival had nothing to do with Anakin’s plans, his reasons for arriving was no less serious. The young nobleman looked visibly troubled and was obviously nervous leaving the young prince to become even more annoyed and concerned. ‘Anakin I’m not supposed to even be here—’

‘I know you already told me that,’ Anakin cut in as Kei frowned and waved a hand.

‘I’m serious. You have to listen to me okay? And don’t interrupt because this is important. Very important,’ Kei continued as Anakin folded his arms in obvious annoyance. ‘It’s about the priestess you were with during the fertility celebrations,’ he continued with obvious concern riddled all over his face. ‘She’s dead.’

The young prince rolled his eyes hardly finding this to be important by comparison to his own situation. ‘I’m sorry to hear that but what does this have to do with me?’ he snapped as Kei glared at him.

‘Would you just shut up and let me finish?’

Anakin growled and glared back at the younger boy who purposely ignored him.

‘The thing is, I’ve just found out from security that the autopsy shows no signs of natural causes of death. They can’t find anything at all and are now suspecting foul play. You are the last person that was seen with the priestess before she was found dead and well...everyone knows you are trained in mystics-’

‘It’s called the Force, Kei, not magic or mystics or whatever else you call it,’ the young prince interrupted again causing Kei to give a frustrated sigh.

‘Interrupt me again and I’m not going to help you. Understood?’ the younger boy stated with obvious agitation, leaving Anakin, who wasn’t really listening to the discussion, at a loss once more.

‘Help? Help for what? Yes I admit I need your help but not for the reason you think. To be honest I don’t see how I could possibly be related to this woman’s death.’

‘Great goddess! And Mikal says I’m an idiot.’ Kei grumbled before growing serious once more. ‘You are a primary suspect, Anakin. Royalty or not, the temple security and now the planetary security believe you are the most likely guilty party.’ Now he had the prince’s attentions.

Anakin couldn’t believe his horrible luck first his marriage to Dormé was blatantly ignored and considered illegal, now this? He was not impressed to say the least. ‘I’m a suspect!? What idiot came up with that idea? What reason would I have to kill a priestess? What would I gain from it?’ Anakin retorted as he shook his head and rolled his eyes. ‘This is just nonsense! She probably died from an overdose of that dust.’

Kei’s expression grew tense as he continued as if Anakin hadn’t spoken at all. ‘This is serious, Anakin. Right now, the people are demanding justice and want your blood. When I told you we take our religion seriously, I wasn’t kidding. Just because she isn’t nobility doesn’t mean she’s any less important to our people.’

Kei’s words immediately made him think of Dormé and instantly his heart ached for her. He hoped she was all right and hoped that she would understand his inability to contact her so they could plot their escape. ‘I dare them to try and find me guilty. I didn’t do anything, Kei, and even if I did—which I didn’t—what reason would I have?’ Anakin challenged, causing Kei to furrow his brow and shake his head.

‘Anakin, I really don’t think the public cares about reasons right now. All they know is that one of the priestesses to the goddess has died and in the temple no less and now they want action.’

The young prince honestly couldn’t care less and was in reality more consumed with guilt over the fact he had yet to tell Dormé about the entire incident. But in reality after he took off to rescue Dormé he completely forgot about the woman he had left behind. ‘Yes I got that much, Kei. Is there a point to all of this?’ Anakin bristled wanting to discuss the matter of his rescue plan.

‘Due to the public outrage over the matter my parents have agreed to let the head of Humbarine intelligence to bring you in for questioning with the possibility of arrest,’ Kei remarked quietly. ‘They’ve yet to speak to the emperor or your mother about the matter, but are currently on their way to Coruscant to discuss the incident,’ he concluded.

Anakin began to panic. ‘You’re not serious!’ he stated in shock. ‘They’re coming here to arrest me?! They can’t do that! I’m the Prince of the Coruscanti Empire!’ he continued as he began to pace. ‘Dammit, that’s the last thing I need right now!’ he growled in frustration as he ran a hand through his spiky hair. It wasn’t that he feared arrest for he knew he was untouchable, but the thought of how this would affect Dormé left him filled with fear. What was even more discouraging was how his parents were going to react and how this would affect their already negative views of his marriage to Dormé. ‘I didn’t even do anything and now I’m about to be arrested for a crime I didn’t commit!’ he hissed for he was more than confident of his innocence. In reality, he could only vaguely recall the evening and even that was the dream he had about Dormé’s safety.

Kei shook his head ‘They can’t arrest you until the matter has been cleared with the Coruscanti internal intelligence. All they can do right now is bring you in for questioning,’

Anakin scowled obviously enraged that he would be implicated in a crime he believed he didn’t commit. ‘As if that’s any better! I dare them to try and arrest me. I’m telling you right now, my mother won’t allow it. She’ll know I’m innocent and will not tolerate this insult!’ he snapped as Kei furrowed his brow.

‘Just to let you know, I have spoken to a few of my contacts and they’re going to look into the matter of clearing your name,’ he concluded. ‘I know your innocent, Anakin; you don’t need to defend yourself to me. No one else on my homeworld knows this and they are all mourning the loss of something sacred to them. Besides, you’re too much of a girl to commit murder,’ he added with a wry grin to which Anakin just glared at him.

‘Are we done here now? Because I have far more pressing matters to that needed to be dealt with,’ he stated in cold tones causing Kei to raise a brow in curiosity.

‘If it involves your scary ex-girlfriend, I’m telling you right now, I want nothing to do with it,’ Kei stated as he studied Anakin warily. He knew of Anakin’s obsession with the handmaiden and anytime he needed help it almost always pertained to the fierce and frightening Dormé.

‘Dormé isn’t my ex, Kei. She’s my wife and I need you to help me get her off Naboo. My idiot parents seem to think she’s still a handmaiden instead of a princess.’

Kei just stared at Anakin in disbelief. ‘You actually married her?! Are you mad? By the goddess, Anakin, she’s my age! She’s not even royalty! And she beats you! Does she even know that you slept with that priestess? Oh my goddess, Anakin, if she finds out—’ Kei shuddered at the thought.

‘Don’t ever talk about Dormé like that ever again!’ Anakin growled as he grabbed Kei by his shirt and slammed him hard against the back wall. The younger nobleman cried out in shock while staring at Anakin in concern. Kei’s fear poured off him and Anakin couldn’t help but feel a sense of satisfaction from it.

‘Okay! Okay! I’ll help you get Dormé back to Coruscant—’ he squeaked as Anakin narrowed his eyes and began to lift the boy off his feet.

‘What else, Kei?’ he growled in threatening tones.

‘I promise I won’t tease you about Dormé anymore,’ he stammered in fear.

‘Good,’ Anakin snapped as he released his grip on Kei causing the boy to drop unceremoniously to his feet.

Dusting himself off as though he had dirt on him, Kei gave Anakin a look of annoyance. ‘And you’re welcome,’ he added in sarcastic tones as Anakin rolled his eyes.

‘I’ll thank you once Dormé is back safe and sound on Coruscant and that tarnish your people stamped on my good name has been removed. And for the record, I didn’t sleep with her,’ Anakin concluded as Kei rolled his eyes.

‘Why doesn’t that surprise me? In fact, I wouldn’t even be surprised if you never had any other women outside of Lady Dormé,’ Kei remarked dryly.

Anakin just shrugged as he moved to collect his utility belt that held his lightsaber. ‘Unlike you Kei, I’d rather make love to one woman who worships me, than multiple partners that don’t even known or care who I am,’ he snobbishly replied not wanting to admit he was far too drunk and high to even know where he was, let alone have sex.

Kei just rolled his eyes and made a face. ‘Whatever you say, princess,’ Anakin cast him a withering look and soon the nobleman was silenced. Without another moments hesitation the young prince began to explain his plans of how they were going to locate and rescue his wife from the Naboo queen.

While Anakin’s first’s attempts at a rescue mission proved disastrous he had learnt a thing or two from the experience and this time he was careful to plan ahead. As such, it wasn’t long before the two young men were able to establish a proper course of action and make contact with Mikal who would assist them in bypassing Naboo security without any questions or complications.

As they snuck off to Anakin’s ship, the young prince was fairly confident that no one would question his whereabouts or why he was departing in such haste. With everything going as planned the young prince was confident that there would be no interruptions this time, nor would there be any nasty surprises. Unfortunately, what the young prince wasn’t counting on was what would be waiting for him upon his return to Coruscant.

As he took to space, with Kei close behind in his own ship, Anakin found his thoughts returning to Kei’s words about the dead priestess. He wasn’t certain what worried him more, the fact he could barely remember anything about that night—leaving open the possibility that he might have indeed killed the girl during his state of hallucination—or the fact he had forgotten to speak to Dormé about it and how this would affect their marriage and his parent’s view of their marriage. He could only hope that once his innocence was proven, they wouldn’t use this against him though somehow the young prince had his doubts.

He gave a long sigh at the thought as his eyes fell to the metallic form of his right hand –another reminder of the events that had brought him to this point. Closing his eyes, he tried to clear his mind of all doubts and concerns. This was certain to be one discussion he was not looking forward to having with Dormé and the memory of making out with the priestess—despite not sleeping with her—left him feeling disgusting and utterly ashamed of himself. If only he knew that in the end, this would prove to be only the beginning of the coming darkness...