Tedious Tedium (open to anyone)

De'Ville rubbed a hand over her eyes, and then knocked the potted plant over. She hated it. This whole 'advisor to the king' had a nice ring to it...but a horrible office. For not the first time she wondered what on earth she was doing here...

..and yet again she reminded herself. Giran was useful. He was what kept the Beastriders from declaring open war on the Mandalorian warriors who now had a garrison near the wall to the east. And she was what kept the Mandalorians from trying to decimate the city again.

Speaking of who, she had been called down by Mandalore. De'Ville checked her chrono. Still a few minutes to go before he got hopping mad that she was ignoring him.

And then there was the matter of Salvestro. Apparently he'd been shown to one of the barns instead of a room. Although 'servants quarters' was fairly vauge. A stableboy was a servant. Still, it would have to be fixed. And she'd ordered some proper robes and clothes made for him. The tailor should be cornering him soon. He'd been loitering around the kennels looking like a scarecrow, and had sent some paticularly nasty looks her way last she'd seen him.

Naj was settling into a routine with her, early morning sessions and a few after dinner ones, the rest of the time he was his own man. Or Chiss. His girl thing, Daria, spent most of her time flicking a knife around and studying Lilaena with distrustful eyes. Not that she had anything to be jealous about. Naj was rather small and weedy compared to Silus. And he was blue. Definetely not her type.

De'Ville checked her chrono once more, and flicked a stylus up into the air, and caught it. Time to go find Mandalore and see what was stuck in his craw this time.

Opening the door she called to one of the wandering maids to clean up the mess in the office. She gathered her cloak and set off for the main hall and the doors to the rest of Iziz.

"You little bastard." I whisper with a grin, "What a meal I would make hmmm?"

The beast's crimson eyes grow fiercer as it glares me down. I shrug and roll my eyes at it.

Lucky that it is tied up...

"Silly creature."

I stand now and stretch, grunting as I do so, the fatigue exiting my bones quickly. Behind me the sun beats rays of heat down on my bare back. I brush the red soil from my dirty jeans, give one final glare at the beast, then turn to the rest of Iziz. The city is still my playground and so I smile at it.

A few minutes later I find myself walking past the palace at the exact same moment as Lilaena De'Ville. I frown at the sight of her and begin to walk away...

I stop.

The hell with this.

I turn around abruptly and make my way over to her. I bow ornately before speaking, "Ahh and now the grand advisor has deemed it necessary to greet the lowly servants with her presence."

I smile mischeviously, "Thankfully I can see no balconies from which to dangle me from..."

Salvestro left his sentance unfinished, and then found himself flying backwards, falling to his backside a few feet away. De'Ville crossed her arms, and looked at him as he got to his feet. "Ah well, necessity is the mother of invention, so they say." She allowed herself a small smile. That felt good.

Then she narrowed her eyes at him before he could say anything else. "Has Mr. Santiago not found you yet? Damn that lazy man."

I frown at first my eyes glaring her down as she speaks to me.

"You little bit..."

I clinch my teeth at the final word as I begin to dust the dirt from my clothing.

A few seconds later, my composre is regained and I stand up straight, crossing my arms as I do so, "We must really stop this game my dear."

"It grows tiresome. I say something silly you throw me around with your little mental thing and then I have to grovel at your feet."

I give a childish shrug, "Why can't we just get along?"

"Ah, admit it, that was fun." She grinned uncharacteristically, and then pointed over his shoulder at a bald man who was walking towards them. "I waylaid one of the king's tailors and told him to track you down. You need better clothing. Can't have you wandering around looking like a foundling."

De'Ville looked down at her chrono. Ah, Mandalore was probably heading this way now, perhaps hoping she'd gotten eaten by a beast, leaving him free to lay waste to Iziz.

"Well I live only to please you De'Ville."

I inspect the bald man with disdainful eyes, "So this was the schmuck who was supposed to get me the clothes in the first place."

I don't wait for an answer as I turn around and point a finger at him, "I'll talk to you later."

I don't mind paying attention to his reaction as I turn my attention back to De'Ville.

"So where are you headed this fine morning?"

Is it morning? She looked upward at the sky, and noted the position of the sun. Nearly noon. Returning her attention to Salvestro, who had summarily dismissed the tailor, she raised an eyebrow. "I was going to visit the Mandalorian barracks. You should come with me. It is always interesting when Mandalore wants to talk to me."

It was a nice break in a week of tallying figures. De'Ville would be happy if she never had to see a column of numbers again. It was enough to drive someone to homicide.

I grin and bow deeply, "Ah but of course."

I stand straight and give a mock salute, "I would absolutely adore accompaning you on your visit."

I turn back to the bald headed man and sneer, "And if you would please meet me in my quarters tonight I would enjoy getting a new set of clothes that did not reek of animal feces."

I turn back to De'Ville, "Thank you."

"Ah, about your quarters, you'll be moved into more appropriate rooms until Mortis decides where he wants you to stay." She offered no apology. He probably wouldn't have accepted one anyway. De'Ville checked her chrono once more, out of habit, and the black speeder with mirrored windows pulled up beside them. The driver hopped out but she was already pulling the doors open.

As she and Salvestro got in, facing each other, she added, "I heard you started a fight at Valentine's club the other night."

I look out the window to avoid her gaze, "Well that wasn't really my fault."

I give her a shrug, "I can't be responsible if some moron has a death wish.."

"Can I?"

"Some would hold you responsible for indulging the moron's wishes." De'Ville kept her eyes on his as the speeder moved through the lunchtime traffic. Out the window to their right a streetside bazaar was glimpsed, vendors displaying their wares in small booths that lined a street.

Iziz rarely saw outside visitors, but they didn't mind. Everything they wanted was right here. There was a species of plant, endowed with a fatal poison in it's nectar, but the people had found a way to harvest a silk-like fiber from the leaves. De'Ville saw a booth covered with brightly colored scarves, woven from the smooth yet very strong fibers.

Just as quickly the bustling scene was passed by, and she looked back at Salvestro, and then back out the window. She offered no further conversation until they reached their destination.

I lean back in the seat ignoring the outside world. I close my eyes and feel the coolness of the speeder wash over me. I exhale deeply before I open them again and glance toward Lilaena.

I smile towards her, "This planet."

I point outside before continueing, "This place. I have to ask you. Why?"

I raise an eyebrow, "I can tell you are not from this place originally. You have a much nobler air about you. You were not born on Onderon. You did not grow up here."

"Why have you chosen to come here now?", I whisper leaning in close. "What are you trying to create here?"

She quirked up an eyebrow in amusement as he said she had a nobler air about her. "No, I was born on Coruscant. I lived there as a street kid until I was seventeen." Lilaena leaned towards him as well, drawing close to his attractive, if not vain, face.

"Perhaps you will be told our whole purpose eventually. But right now..." The Dark Jedi whispered in his ear, nearly touching him with her lips, "...I just don't trust you."

For a second I take her presence in with a deep breath.

This effect...no other since...Asha...

Casually I tilt my head slightly and whisper into her ear, "I don't blame you."

I pull my body away from her and lean back into the seat. I drape an arm over the headrest and frown, "I don't trust you either."

"I don't trust you." She had whispered two days before....

"The truth is my dear, I don't like you." I rub a hand over my head untagling my damp hair, "Because I can't trust you."

"I can trust no one." My eyes relax and I stair out the window, "I never have..."

De'Ville sat back, quirking up an eyebrow in amusement as Salvestro got melancholy. "A very useful habit. However, if you never trust anyone, then you stand alone. A man who stands alone has nothing to fall back on."

She kept watching him, even as he looked out the window. "And that is something we should all remember. No matter how much trust there is in this city, between us, there will always be a catch. Betray the trust, and there is no second chances. It cannot be afforded. For in the end, we are all alone."

"Alone?" I don't take my eyes from the window, "Being alone has become a way of life for me."

I sigh and look at her, "I've grown tired of the deciet that has filled and fueled my life."

I smile halfheartidly, I think I've got something here and I need to know that I belong somewhere De' Ville. I want to be trusted now."

I lean close to her and hold an up turned palm to her, "I hate you because you are stronger. Because of this I know I can trust you more than anyone I have ever met before. How can I make you trust me?"

"Oh, you belong here, alright. Among us." She looked out the window expectantly as the speeder slowed, and then stopped. "Ah, here we are."

Again she popped the door open before the driver could do it, and Salvestro followed her out. The wall was barely casting a shadow this close to noon, but at sunset the Mandalorian barracks were covered in a false dusk well before the palace was in darkness. Their eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight, and she turned to Salvestro as a tall, heavily muscled man came out of the complex in front of them.

"As far as making someone trust you, you cannot. Only time will help you with that. We are not Jedi, but patience can always be a virtue." Then she turned around to face Mandalore as he approached.