Selected Seclusion

[Miranda Tarkin]

Empress Tarkin's Personal Suite - Imperial Palace, Coruscant

Adjusting the picture hanging on the wall from comforts of her couch, Miranda glowered as the picture of her parents was now crooked from the other angle. The subtle control of the Force she was hoping for was not there. Yet. It was passable that she did not destroy the frame or have it fly off the wall, so there was noticeable progress. It wasn't enough. She needed to practice, learn more, and understand how to manipulate the power she was born with to her advantage. Thus far, the Empress' talent was contained to selected Knights so that Miranda could train in secret.

With a sigh, she rose from the couch, tumbler in hand, to right the picture. As she sipped her cognac, Miranda wished her father was alive to share in the glory that his daughter had achieved. Her feelings about her mother were more complicated. She understood the necessity to separate their twin daughters due to Imperial law at the time, but it was evident that Lise Tarkin regretted that decision ever since Navaria had come to Coruscant. That brief family reunion changed everything and the guilt of her mother's decision had caused Lise to draw inward and become a recluse, never showing her face in public any longer. Lise wanted Navaria back, but the Jedi wouldn't forsake her place in the Force, and the Tarkins would never severe their ties with the Empire. Miranda had made that perfectly clear to her mother. There would be no leaving Coruscant in pursuit of her fugitive offspring.

Instead her Imperial Knights would and the next meeting with her twin would be on Miranda's terms.

Blasted Navaria. She grimaced and loosened her collar, still dressed in uniform. She pressed the crystal to her lips and swallowed another sip as Miranda spared a glance at the chronometer. Company would arrive soon and offer a distraction from these troublesome thoughts.

[Sanya Tagge]

Guards escorted her to the threshold of the suite and announced her arrival, gesturing Sanya into the room as if setting foot inside the Empress's private domain was a novelty.

“Lady Tagge.”

They hovered behind her for a moment too long, but Sanya kept her expression schooled into one of placid respect, chin lifted only a fraction. At a gesture from their leader, the guards departed.

Her gaze lingered for a moment on the near-empty glass of cognac. It was a favourite drink of her brothers, though she did not have to search for Gallus's presence in Miranda's suite. He had departed a day earlier for Pallaxides, on what he had described as a lad's weekend. Her lips pursed but she pushed the thought aside, focusing on Miranda, allowing herself a guilty little moment to admire the cut of her uniform.

“How may I serve your majesty?”

[Miranda Tarkin]

She lifted the tumbler and looked at her patiently. "We're alone, Sanya. Are formalities really necessary?"

With the guards gone, the two of them had their privacy. No one would dare interrupt the Empress unless on dire circumstances or if her life were in danger. Sanya posed no threat. She was the Empress' childhood friend and brother to the consort. But sometimes old grudges couldn't be quelled when past failures were remembered.

"Would you care for a drink?" she asked, already walking towards the well stocked bar.

Many of the bottles were favorites of Gallus'. Miranda had even taken liberties with the cognac. The drink had grown on her over time. Just like Gallus. She had not expected that. A marriage of necessity to secure an heir and have her trusted friends close by had turned deeper. She had become fond of him, as she was fond of his sister. She never would have thought to find herself in this situation. She had believed that it would have been an affair of the heart with Sorsha in secret. Yet that had blown up into a terrible argument and forced Sorsha to leave. All those years together just gone.

[Sanya Tagge]

She exhaled, a breath she hadn't known she was holding in. Dispensing with the formalities immediately was... good, wasn't it? There shouldn't have been any need for them to stand on ceremony, when they have been friends for so long and (dare she think it?) lovers of late, but Sanya knew better than to be presumptuous. As she moved across the floor, towards the simple yet elegant seating, the dynamic of power between them remained as clear cut as if they were in the public eye. Conscious of her place, Sanya did not sit, instead standing by a couch - a couch that stirred memories which brought a little colour to her skin.

"Gin, if you have any."

[Miranda Tarkin]

"I certainly do," she explained.

The gin in stock was a finely distilled, imported brand, from Corellia and could not be found outside of Imperial Space unless smugglers were bringing it in. The illegally procured bottle fetched almost a thousand credits.

She poured Sanya a healthy amount and refilled her own, remarking on how disjointed her relationship was with her old friend. Shared intimacy should have broken down some of the expected formalities that came with Miranda's title, but Sanya's respect for her had made her overcompensate with rigid protocol. It wasn't always like this when they were members of COMPNOR. Miranda could always see the purposeful verbiage and posture around her, always wanting to be noticed which magnified a thousand fold when Sorsha was present. The signs were there all along of Sanya's devotion and feelings since they were young adults.

Miranda clasped the tops of the tumblers by her fingertips and rejoined Sanya by the couch. "Here we are. Gin as requested."

[Sanya Tagge]

"Thank you."

She accepts the glass with a smile, enjoying - not for the first or the last time - the novelty of being waited upon by the woman who held the Galaxy at her command. When she takes a sip, she is not in the least surprised to taste some of the finest distilled juniper she has ever tasted. The meager sip is enough to suffuse warmth within her. Not forgetting why she is here, she tots up in her mind the weeks that have passed since the two of them were last together. It has been a hectic time, one necessitating each to focus their full attention on their posts. For Sanya, this has meant time both in the Greater Javin system and in the space occupied by TaggeCo, as she and her brother begin to consider how the concordance will affect the family business. The time away, however brief, has created in her mind a distance between them, one that she is eager to close. To that end, she takes a half-step closer to Miranda and reaches out to set an errant strand of hair back into its place; a small gesture, but significant nonetheless.

"How are you?"

[Miranda Tarkin]

The touch lightly grazed the edge of her temple and Miranda thought that this was more like it. She smiled, but was it difficult to discern if it were the touch or the question asked.

"Exhaustively busy. Which I'm sure you've been too." She took a swallowed another sip and then inhaled deeply. "Were there any concerns that came up as you were assessing TaggeCo's needs?"

Though joined in marriage, Miranda and Gallus had separate empires to run. Just that Gallus had more responsibility thrust upon him as consort with required appearances and meetings. Which meant that Sanya's workload increased but like most everything pertaining to her career, she attacked it with tenacity and dedication. An admired quality.

[Sanya Tagge]

“A few.”

TaggeCo had a diverse selection of child companies, most of which were engaged in businesses that could flourish in times of war. Their military contracts were limited and the company was large enough now that it had little to worry about in the way of new competition, as a result of the more permeable borders between Imperial and Alliance space.

She smiles again. “It's nothing that we can't handle.”

She settles her free hand at Miranda's waist and with a slight tilt of her head, asks: “Is there anything that I can help you with?”

[Miranda Tarkin]

"Good."

Miranda meant that and respected both Tagges abilities in running the family company. She married well for a reason, and not just because she trusted the two heirs of such a wealthy empire. They were intelligent patriots with fealty to her and the Empire. A fealty that Sanya appeared to want to explore once more.

She mulled over Sanya's question and sipped her drink. Her closeness began to feel more intoxicating than the liquor in hand, Sanya's perfume invoked memories weeks ago of when they last saw one another. Bodies moving effortlessly together, soft cries increasing in passion and intensity, their sex thick in the air. And it brought back the recollection of Sanya leaving the next morning. Both of them had responsibilities and Miranda didn't harbor animosity towards Sanya, but she felt irrationally slighted. A projection of Sorsha abandoning her most likely.

"I believe you already have something in mind," she said. Miranda glanced down at the hand at her hip before her gaze searched Sanya's. "Don't you?"

[Sanya Tagge]

She arches an eyebrow, almost surprised but smiling regardless. "It was an entirely innocent question."

Her hand slips from Miranda's side, instead seeking out and lacing her fingers with the other woman's, squeezing.

It's a gamble and a perhaps even a little bold, but she has to ask. "Can't we just... talk, for now? Let's.. go out on the balcony. I love the view of the city."

[Miranda Tarkin]

"Ah." Her gaze drifted to their joined hands curiously before squeezing back.

Miranda wondered if Sanya had believed that all she wanted was the comfort of physicality from the Baroness. That wasn't the perception she wanted to foster. She enjoyed Sanya's company firstly and that's why she asked her friend to come over tonight. Miranda had simply misinterpreted Sanya's response.

"Let's," she said when their eyes met and escorted Sanya to the balcony, hands still laced together.

Despite being dark out, the view was filled with multicolored lights from the endless traffic of Imperial Center's impressive skyline from the palace.

[Sanya Tagge]

Bespin and Coruscant could not have been more different. As relaxing as the pale pink and lavender clouds of Cloud City were, it was the mega-city of Coruscant gave Sanya a feeling of... security, of strength. Imperial Center was a microcosm of the Empire at large. Yet, though the city maintained it's stability, Sanya could not help but feeling that... a shadow had crept over Miranda. She concealed it well, but they were old friends and Sanya knew when something was bothering her.

"What's on your mind?

[Miranda Tarkin]

Family or Force? What to share?

A dispirited smile disappeared as quickly as it came. She felt deep affection for Sanya right now and appreciated her old friend's concern.

"You caught me reminiscing about family when you arrived. Missing my father. Hating my mother," she confessed and took another sip from her glass.

The omission of Navaria was glaringly apparent.

"She's flat out refusing to come to my birthday celebration."

Miranda didn't want to sound like a petulant daughter, but this was a high profile event. She wasn't that thrilled about it either, but it was duty. It gave the people something to talk about and look forward to the coverage on the holonet. The least that Lise could do was show her face for an hour and then go home to despair over the other daughter she gave away.

[Sanya Tagge]

The absence of Navaria's name did not slip by, but Sanya left that... wound alone, for now. It was undoubtedly raw and Sanya wouldn't be the one to touch it, without Miranda's invitation.

When it came to Miranda's mother, Lise Tarkin featured sparingly in memories of Sanya's childhood, but the impression that she had left was indelible. No one who had met her could say anything else. It would have been an incredible stretch to say that Lise had filled the role of mother for Sanya, who had never known her own mother, but she respected the woman. More than that, though, she loved Mirand and wanted her to be happy.

"I could talk to her, if you'd like?" she asked, leaning one forearm against the balcony railing.

[Miranda Tarkin]

With a discouraged sigh, Miranda looked to the unending cityscape and took a healthy sip of her cognac to swallow down her disgust. It was useless talking to Lise.

"If you want to try, I won't discourage it." She pointed her drinking hand at Sanya in warning. "Just don't be surprised when she won't agree to see you. She barely has time for me ..."

It was evident that if her daughter wasn't the Empress, Lise wouldn't entertain Miranda at all. It was probably a matter of time before she'd have to order her own mother so Miranda would be seen if things continued as they were.

[Sanya Tagge]

Sipping at her gin, Sanya remembered how many times she had gone through a similar, almost hopeless, process. Not with Lise Tarkin, but her adopted father, Ulric Tagge. He had done 'the right thing' in adopting an orphan, but he had neither the skills nor the inclination to raise the girl. She had been shipped off to COMPNOR and could not fault the education that the Empire had provided for her, but trying to contact her father, let alone engage him in a conversation? A sad little smile pulled at her lips and Sanya concealed the expression by taking a sip of gin. It would have been easier to move the stars. Maybe the same could be said for Miranda's mother - but at least she was alive. There was a chance.

A soft frown pressed into Sany'a brow. "What's happened between you?"

[Miranda Tarkin]

"You know what happened," she said bitterly. "She happened."

The invitation for Sanya to broach the subject of Navaria had been given. It affected Miranda more than she had let on as her friend seethed at the marvelous landscape. Even the joints on her hand had turned white, clasping the glass so strongly as if she were trying to catch the ghost of her sister's presence. A small crack caught Miranda's attention and she looked down at the glass in surprise. A tiny fissure formed from her thumb to the rim with smaller veins spreading from the initial break. Her anger subsided to curiosity because she had not been holding the tumbler that tightly to cause any damage. Or was it misuse of the Force once again that she was unable to control?

"Excuse me. I'll need another glass," she said with shrug.