Ties That Bind

[Silus Xilarian]

Early morning had turned into late afternoon, and the argument wasn't showing an signs of slowing down. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss renegade Mandalorian bands that had broken off when Lilaena had wrested control from the previous Mandalore in single combat. They were now making their presence known by small raids on outer wall posts. Unsuccessful Raids. That was the point that Silus had been pushing all morning.

"These assaults will only continue!"

That was Barol Recks, a small pale man who had once served as Chief Military Adviser to the Royal Family of Onderon. The one I replaced. Silus thought, allowing himself a small inward grin.

"If we do not take offense measures now, the attacks will only become larger and more organized! Mr. Xilarian believes that our defenses are impenetrable. I, however, do not share his confidence!" He punctuated his speech with a hard glare toward Silus that was met by a subtle smirk.

Slowly, Silus began to speak, letting his words hang unspoken for just a few moments, letting the attention centering on him to build. "Surprisingly enough, I share that observation." He paused again, giving speculation around the table time to set in. "I would be a fool to believe that this city is completely immune to attack. In fact, I'm more familiar with the shortcomings of our security force than any other person in this room. However, our weaknesses are not easily noticeable, and are even harder to exploit." Silus started to continue speaking, but was abruptly cut off by Recks.

"Then we must move quickly! If you admit to flaws in our defenses, then it is only a matter of time before they discover them!"

Silus studied the reactions around the table. Slight nods of agreement, some worrisome faces . Just what he had hoped for.

"You're absolutely correct. If we don't act, then they will eventually find a way to get to us." His plan was simple, cut straight to their doubts, and dispel them. "What would you suggest? A pogrom perhaps? Quickly and decisively wipe them all out?"

Recks simply stared blankly at Silus, obviously puzzled. This was an unexpected play for him, one that he wasn't sure how to react to. Silus masked the gloating in his eyes well and continued.

"We could try that. We could march our army into the jungle, killing anything that moves. Either that, or we could save ourselves the time and effort and publicly execute every last soldier that we have. The effect would be the same."

There wasn't a single person at the table now that wasn't wide eyed and confused.

"When we march into the jungle, we're throwing away nearly every advantage we have. We may have numbers, true, but they have the advantage in guerrilla warfare. There are two reasons that they have begun attacking us. First, They're hungry for battle. Second, they've fortified themselves. They expect us to retaliate, and they've already laid the trap. These litte raids are nothing but bait. Right now, their morale is high, and it can only go higher through one means: Victory. I'd rather not swallow their bait and hand that morale boost over on a silver platter."

Sporadic looks of understanding were popping up around the table now. Recks was staring daggers at Silus.

"Let them thin their ranks on our defenses for awhile. Let those losses sink in. Let them begin to question their leadership. This will give us time to assess the threat further. Once we have adequate information, then we'll begin discussing offensive measures."

He had them in the palm of his hand now. Recks sank slightly back into his chair, clearly abashed. This was right where Silus wanted the group, for reasons other than the obvious. The next question wasn't going to be one he could answer honestly, but at this point, no one would question him. The head speaker stood.

"Now then, with that issue resolved for the time being, the next question on everyone's mind is, Where is the Lady De'Ville? We certainly would not worry with your trips off planet together, but we were expecting you to return with her on your last trip. Has there been trouble?"

Silus sat up slightly, betraying no nervousness.

"No, no trouble at all, she simply wished to delay her return a bit longer. I'm expecting to hear back from her any day now."

The head speaker nodded.

"That will be all for today, thank you everyone for your time and patience."

Silus allowed the rest of the group to shuffle out of the room before he rose to leave. He didn't want to seem eager to get away from the meeting, and it was simple convenience to not have to stand in line at the door to leave. He also took the time to shoot a small grin toward Recks as the man left. As much as Silus knew not to toy with the man, he simply couldn't help himself at times. Once the room was sufficiently cleared, Silus left for his quarters. He sat down on the bed, letting out a small sigh as he absently tugged at the collar of his shirt. At that moment, his comlink beeped...

[Lilaena De'Ville]

"Silus."

The voice was barely recognizable. Lilaena sounded tired - fatigued even. Sitting on the edge of a bed in an old motel on Cloud City, she held the commlink with a trembling hand. Pierce had done what he could with the scant medical supplies available on his ship, but she was still weak from her encounter with the Dark Lord and the rest of the Sith Order's flunkies.

Bruises covered her too-thin body, her face sporting a synflesh bandage on her forehead. Dark circles under her eyes betrayed the true extent of her exhaustion. "I missed the rendezvous. Duros..." Her voice cracked, but she composed herself. "The Sith Order ambushed me."

There were no words to express the magnitude of her fury and hatred of Lady Vader and her brood, nor her pain at the loss of Jax to the Jedi once again. Her only consolation was that the Vader bitch had not gotten her claws into her son.

[Silus Xilarian]

Silus paused for only a moment, then snatched the comlink off its charger.

"Lilaena, I was beginning to think I'd lost you..."

Her tone of voice and her statement both screamed that she was injured. He clenched his teeth slightly, then spoke.

"How badly are you hurt?"

"A...a bit more than usual."

Her voice was ragged and strained. Silus almost began to wonder if she was captured and being forced into this conversation. He didn't personally have any bad blood with the Sith Order, but his association with Lilaena, if discovered, would make him a target, and he knew this. Her voice also betrayed injury that was more than physical. Had her son been killed in the attack? Questions raced through his mind, barely relenting to the need for a timely response.

"Where are you now?"

"Bespin, Cloud City. Im alo...I wasn't followed"

Her response surprised him a bit. Had she marked him that well, that she could reproduce his thought train? He put the thought aside for now. If he had become predictable, it could still be mended. Her response did reinforce his belief that Jax had been killed as well. This disturbed him. With the loss of her son, Lilaena could become dangerous, more so than usual. Jax was her one tie to humanity, one that kept her relatively tame, and Silus relatively safe. With that connection severed, she was capable of anything. 'I'll have to be careful' he thought to himself. At the same time, he felt a bit of sadness for her, a concern that he thought he'd lost in the passed few weeks. As much as he wanted to keep Lilaena out, there was something in him that cared. Weakness.

"Im coming for you right away. I'll be in the Dragon. Be careful, and take care til I arrive."

[Lilaena De'Ville]

The connection severed, Lilaena let her hand fall, the commlink rolling out of her palm and to the floor. She was so weak, and she felt as though if she sneezed her head might blow off.

But more than her bodily aches, her heart felt like it had been torn out. The ragged edges had been sandpapered by Pierce's request for forgiveness.

As if she - after what he had done - as if she could forgive. Sometimes it felt like only her hatred for the universe was holding her together. And without her son, what else did she have?

De'Ville curled lightly on her side, falling into a fitful and dark sleep.

[Silus Xilarian]

The trip to Cloud City had been relatively short. Despite what he had told her, he'd left the Dragon docked on Onderon. He instead had settled on Havoc, the Infiltrator that he had been secretly working on since his last stint with the Empire. While it didn't sport anywhere near the luxury of his primary transport, it made up for it in spades with speed and stealth, and despite its size, it did have a small medbay, just in case.

Making port and getting into the Cloud City spaceport was an uneventful affair. The Shank was registered under the alias The Corulag Cane suggesting it was the toy to a wealthy family with ties to the former Sienar Fleet Systems, and his fake ID backed this suggestion.

Once inside, Silus found himself to be slightly edgy. The Sith didn't seem to care about subtlety when it came to this sort of situation, so any person in the complex was suspect. While his heightened awareness of minutiae didn't make him an easy target for a surprise attack, it also hampered his senses in other ways, particularly, detecting Lilaena in this crowd would be nearly impossible. Where other powers failed however, logic and reason took over. She would most likely be expecting him to arrive in a large crimson colored luxury cruiser, which made the large window overlooking the spaceport a good candidate to start his search. It was also nearby, which didn't hurt at all.

Once he arrived at the window, he realized that this was the ideal place to find someone, in respect that there were many people here watching ships pulling into dock. As he searched the crowd, he spotted a thin woman wearing a black jumpsuit. The set of her shoulders, and the occasional shifting of weight suggested fatigue, but her overall poise also hinted an air of power that hadn't been completely broken. Casually, he stepped up behind her, pitching his voice low, but equally casual.

"I just hate waiting. Every dot that appears to be moving closer could be the one you want, but it seems like it never is..."

[Lilaena De'Ville]

She turned towards the voice, and smiled. Her shoulders visibly relaxed. "Ah, it appears I was misinformed about my transportation." Xilarian winked, taking her hand and leading her through the 'port. She kept up with him, but his pace soon exhausted her. Her battered body simply did not want to do anything but sleep.

Finally they entered his ship, not the Dragon. She had thought it was reckless of him to risk taking such a recognizable ship to Bespin, and apparently he had thought the same after his initial burst of passion.

"Silus!" De'Ville turned towards him, her voice quiet and thin. She smiled wanly, then pulled his head down for a kiss. His lips were warm and dry, and he pulled her into his arms for a quick embrace. She winced as broken ribs protested, and he quickly realized her pain and handled her as though she were a carton of eggs.

"Lets get out of here," he said, setting her down and taking her hand.

She nodded, "Sounds good to me."

[Silus Xilarian]

As badly as he wanted to start rolling out the questions, her condition suggested that he leave her be for now. Soon, they'd be in hyperspace, and if she had been followed, it wouldn't matter. Emotions warred within him. A part of him wanted to run to her as soon as the ship was doing lightspeed, to hold her and make sure everything was alright. To make things better. He silently chastised himself for this. Things were changing rapidly with big events. Lilaena was always a dangerous ally, and he'd played with fire for a long time now. Things could go in any direction now, to the point they could even become enemies. He wondered if she sensed this as well.

Once the ship was handling itself in hyperspace, Silus got up and allowed himself a small stretch. The cabin wasn't very large, but he'd made it as cozy as possible. Lilaena, he noticed, hadn't completely settled in to sleep.

"There's a medbay toward the back of the ship, through that door to the right. Need me to get you anything?"

[Lilaena De'Ville]

She shook her head lightly. "Wrapped my ribs already. Just need... time." De'Ville shifted uncomfortably on the bed, propping herself up into an almost sitting position. "Duros was a nightmare."

She stopped there, unwilling to divulge more, but knew she owed Silus an explanation for her injuries and lack of Jax. "Lady Vader showed up. With her pet clone. Anbiraa. The one who fancies himself the Dark Lord of the Sith." She frowned. "Van-Derveld was there too. I think. Guess he isn't dead, though maybe he is again, now.

"And the Jedi showed up. I do not know how they tracked me - should not have been able to... While I was protecting Jax from the Order they took him away."

How much could she say about Pierce? "Tondry was there." Her voice was flat.

[Silus Xilarian]

The information raised even more questions, questions that Silus wasn't sure how to ask. Vega making an appearance at this time worried him a good bit. He knew the lupine's death had been a ruse, but somehow he was sure Vega wasn't popping in to lend an old friend a hand, it wasn't his style. Lady Vader and her crew, obviously, didn't surprise him that much. Lilaena might have been hard to find, but that didn't mean the Sith weren't looking. Tondry wasn't a huge surprise either, of course, he didn't want Lilaena to have Jax. The fact that Tondry and the Sith were both there though, that raised concerns. Would he sell her to the sith to get his son back? Questions, questions with answers that would probably raise more questions.

Lilaena could probably tell that Silus was wrapped up in heavy thought, and had just broken himself loose. It was hard to mask at this point. Gently, he pulled her to him and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"We'll figure everything out when we get home. Just try to rest now."

[Lilaena De'Ville]

"Okay."

She laid down gingerly, and soon passed into fitful sleep.

Hours later, De'Ville awoke, the ship shuddering as it entered the atmosphere of Onderon. So much to do...

Her heart wasn't in her work, but she could not afford to look weak in front of the other members of Kuklos Ataxia. For that matter, she did not care to be so helpless in front of Silus, either. Getting to her feet, she joined Xilarian in the cockpit.

[Silus Xilarian]

Silus kept the light in the cockpit low. He knew dark bags would be starting to form under his eyes, and his internal sense of time was starting to count backward to the last time he'd slept without him telling it to. He held back a sigh, he knew he needed sleep, but he didn't want to show it. He thought back to earlier when they had spoken over the commlink. Had she really predicted his concern that she'd been captured? Even more so, had she known that the concern was mostly for his own skin. He felt a bit betrayed at himself. He had dangerous thoughts, thoughts that could spell disaster were they to be uncovered. At times, his mind was his only sanctuary, and if it had been compromised, so could anything else.

He had to put these aside from now. Dwelling on such doubts would only hinder him even further. He calmed himself just in the nick of time, as the cockpit door was now opening. Lilaena slid down into the seat beside him. While she was still moving with obvious injury, some of her cat-like grace had returned. Sleep had done her some good.

He reached over and gave her leg a gentle squeeze as she sat down, then turned his chair toward her slightly.

"How are you feelin?"

[Lilaena De'Ville]

"Like a bantha ran over me." De'Ville moved to cross her legs, then thought better of it.

"What did I miss while I was away?" She looked out the viewport at the approaching city of Iziz. The rigors of court seemed petty and ... stupid, frankly. She rubbed her forehead lightly, trying to ease the ache between her temples.

[Silus Xilarian]

"Not too much. There have been a few attacks on the city by a renegade Mandalorian bands. I'm guessing they didn't quite agree with taking orders from a woman."

Silus smiled a bit and looked over.

"Nothing serious though, and morale from your Mandalorians seems to still be in good shape, despite our vacation."

Silus returned his attention to the controls. He was secretly happy that she'd asked an easy question. As they approached the dock, tractor beams took over to pull them in for a landing, and Sirus unstrapped himself from the pilot's seat. Not exactly sure if it was the right thing to do, but ignoring his new knack for over thinking things, he leaned over and kissed her, once on the lips, and once on the forehead.

"Thanks for making it back to me, next time, though, don't make me sweat so much."

He gave her a warm smile and stood up, helping her to her feet.

"I arranged for us to arrive at night, so you won't have to be so cautious about your injuries. I don't think either of us feel like answering their questions right now."

[Lilaena De'Ville]

She looked up at him as his lips touched her forehead, and she smiled as he helped her up. "Thank you."

Mandalorians running amok. It did not bode well, but if the majority were holding themselves under control... "Ah!" Lilaena grabbed at her head, stumbling.

She should never have give Pierce access to her mind. She barely knew how she'd done it. Perhaps he had. Silus caught her, held her steady, and she took a few deep breaths. After a moment she nodded, pushing away.

"You all right?" He was concerned.

"Yes, yes, just a headache." De'Ville tried to wave it off, but Silus took her hand and placed her finger just under her nose. It was wet. She pulled her hand back and looked at the blood on the end of her finger a little blankly.

[Silus Xilarian]

"Lilaena, your nose is bleeding..."

Obviously she knew this, and he was more stating for his sake than to actually inform her. Before she could reply, he pulled her a bit closer. She let out a slight grunt as the way he held her put some pressure on her ribs, but need to move overruled minor pain for the moment.

"I'm gonna get you back to our room. If you get worse though, we might have to take you to the house medbay."

He heard her start to protest, but quieted her.

"It's not something I want to do either, and we won't if we don't have to. But I don't want to take unnecessary chances."

She quietly accepted this, it seemed. Either that, or she was losing her will to argue. Either way, they were moving now. The halls of the palace were almost completely empty, which Silus was thankful for. As he rounded the corner that lead to their quarters, he encountered two guards. He pushed by them and into the room, where he laid Lilaena down on the bed. He glanced back, and noticed the guards were still at the door with concern on their faces. Luckily, these two were from his personal corps, and could be given a safe amount of trust. In the very least, gossip was an activity that would be beneath them. One of them spoke quietly as Silus made his way back to the door.

"Is the Lady De'Ville ok sir?"

Silus gave a quick but assertive nod.

"She'll be fine, she's just got a bad case of hyperspace lag. Nothing serious at all."

The two shot puzzled glances at each other, nodded, and went about their way. As Silus shut the door, understanding of their response came over him, and he laughed slightly to himself. 'They've never been off planet.'

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Her head was killing her. Silus was talking, but she couldn't pay attention. He pulled her into their room, half supporting her as it was taking most of her concentration to keep from passing out.

Seeing Xilarian's guards had brought something else to mind, however. "My lieutenants..." she said, "They will need to be notified that I am back in Iziz. The Mandalorian honor guard for me... they would be insulted..."

Lilaena grabbed a towel from the refresher, pressing it under her nose to blot at the blood.

[Silus Xilarian]

"Good idea, I'll go ahead and take care of that."

Silus walked back to the bed and sat, taking the commlink and punching in the frequency to contact Lilaena's Mandalorian headquarters. Immediately, one of her commander's responded. He knew they would be suspicious of not being able to speak with her directly, but at the moment, it couldn't be helped. While they had a very healthy respect for her privacy, they were also honor bound to ensure her safety. While Silus was her consort, he was also one of the Iziz royalty's chief advisors, and peace didn't necessarily mean trust.

"This is Xilarian, I've just arrived with Mandalore, and we're currently in our personal quarters. Would you like to send an honor guard?"

The man hesitated for a moment. Most of the time, her guards were dismissed after escorting her to her quarters, and summoned when she wished to leave. It was rare for them to actually post outside her room.

"Does our Mandalore wish to leave the palace?"

Silus could tell by the man's tone that he was being cautious of her privacy, but he did indeed want to send a guard to check on her well being. Silus answered him casually.

"I suspect not, she's tired from the trip. If you do wish to send guards though, I'll dismiss the royal guards that are currently posted so they won't be in your way."

"Very good then, I'll send a detachment immediately."

Silus hung the commlink up and headed back to the door. He dismissed his guards that were posted nearby, then went back to help tend to Lilaena.

"The Mandalorians are sending guards now, I've cleared my guards so there won't be any friction."

[Lilaena De'Ville]

She laid down on the bed they shared, looking at the splotch of bright red on the towel in her hand. "I need to meditate. My..." Lilaena looked up at Silus, realizing how vulnerable she was.

My mental blocks... the shields in my head... they're cracked. No, no, she would not tell him that.

"My head is killing me," she said truthfully. "After some meditation I... I should feel better. Things have been... crazy."

[Silus Xilarian]

"I understand." Silus turned away from her and narrowed his brows slightly. He could sense much more than he led on. Mentally, something was very wrong, and it wasn't all emotional distress. Something had happened, and now her mind seemed like a brittle cage desperately trying to hold back a raging beast. As the thoughts rolled through his mind, he heard a page at the door. Lilaena's guards, presumably. He heard Lilaena behind him starting to stir, and he told her to stay still and relax. He stepped outside for a few moments then stepped back in, shutting the door behind him.

"They're gonna stay posted outside, they just needed to see that you were unharmed."

He wasn't too sure how Lilaena would respond to him using mind tricks or illusion on the guards, but at this point she wasn't really in a position to argue about it, and he didn't figure it would become an issue that couldn't easily be solved.

"Lilaena, I'm not going to ask you what happened, I can sense how much pain you're in. All I'm going to ask is that you trust me..."

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Meditation wasn't coming easily. Her mind was unsettled, and the pain wasn't helping. Silus came close to where she lay on the bed, her eyes closed lightly.

He asked her to trust him. She hesitated.

They had been together almost longer than she had been with Tondry. Of course she trusted him. With her life... with Jax's life.

She was too tired to argue. Lilaena nodded, eyes still closed. "I trust you, Silus."

[Silus Xilarian]

Silus sat down on the bed beside her, leaning back against the headboard. Gently, he lifted her to a sitting position and slid between her and the headboard. After pulling a pillow into his lap, he let her lay back again. She shuffled a bit until she was comfortable. Gently, he began to massage her temples, mentally working himself up for what was going to come next. He'd done similar things to prisoners and such, but Lilaena didn't exactly have a simple mind.

What he was about to do could very well kill them both.

"Whatever you do, try to remain calm. This will be quick."

Slowly, Silus closed his eyes and began to focus. He knew something of the mental blocks she carried in her mind, and tonight, he was almost nervous to find out what was behind them. He was also nervous to think of what kind of tampering had already been done, and by who, because the first thing apparent to him when he began to focus was that something had been done.

As he began to work, Lilaena was visibly gritting her teeth in pain. It only lasted a few moments though, as he was able to assume a form of control in her, mentally, enough to ease it.


************

To Lilaena, the entire process had only taken a few seconds when she opened her eyes. She felt no pain at this point, and her memory was completely intact. A quick scan of the time however, would reveal that roughly fourteen hours had passed since they'd began. Silus was still sitting with Lilaena resting in his lap, but he was now fast asleep with small blood stains around his nostrils and ears.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

She sighed, opening her eyes and looking up at Xilarian. He was sitting back, his warm hands on her shoulders, but appeared to be asleep. De'Ville moved gingerly, her headache eased but her body still stiff and sore.

If anything her body seemed stiffer than it had been before. On her hands and knees on the bed, she crept up to Silus' side, noticing the blood stains on his skin as he snored lightly. She kissed his cheek, and her eyes fell upon the chrono on the side table.

Almost fourteen hours had passed since she had first closed her eyes. But it had seemed like just a few moments. She drew back from him slightly, feeling a little paranoid. What had he done to her?

After a moment she shook her head, and snuggled close to him, breathing in his scent. She felt better, her mental walls seemed to be built better than they had been before, and her headache was gone. Perhaps her trust had not been misplaced.

And yet...

[Silus Xilarian]

The room around them began to darken a bit, as if the building were slowly losing power. Then, as if being viewed through gently rippling water, the room distorted a bit. For a good thirty seconds this went on until everything immediately snapped back to normal, as Silus quickly regained his mental facilities. Slowly he opened his eyes, letting them adjust to the lighting. Lilaena was with him, and as far as he could tell, both of them were still alive. He was actually slightly surprised at this.

"How....how long was I out..."

He blinked his eyes a few times and shook his head. Lilaena seemed to be waking up as well.

"How do you feel?"

[Lilaena De'Ville]

"Better," she smiled. "Are you all right?"

Lilaena ran her fingers through his hair, teasing a section between her fingertips.

[Silus Xilarian]

"I'll be fine I think, I'm just a little rattled up still."

He sat up on the side of the bed. He was still exhausted, and now his own mind was a storm. He'd nearly bitten off more than he could chew with Lilaena, and his mind was still dealing with it.

"I'm gonna get a shower and get some fresh air. You're still pretty beat up, so you should try to get some rest."

Slowly, he got up and started making his way to the refresher, rubbing at his temples with his left hand and doing his best to keep his balance.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Lilaena nodded, stiffly. "I think I will get some food first. But then rest, definitely." After fourteen hours in whatever trance he'd placed her in, she was starving. She picked up the intercomm and ordered a high protein meal as Xilarian hobbled into the 'fresher.

After a moment she heard the water turn on, and a few minutes later her meal arrived. Her Mando'ade guard rapped on the door, and passed the covered tray to her from the other side. The helmeted head looked her over, but the warrior said nothing about her condition.

When Silus came out of the 'fresher she was asleep on the bed, the empty tray beside her.

[Silus Xilarian]

It was fortunate for Silus that Lilaena was asleep when he came out of the refresher. He wouldn't have to answer questioned. She would have been curious to why he wore his coat when it was warm outside, and Lilaena knew him well enough now to know when he was concealing weapons.

He nodded to her guards as he walked out.