Loyalty/Part 3

Anzati had long since evolved past the need for sleep, but a predator could appreciate the value of stillness, even if it was no more than a lure for the unwary. When there was little soup to be consumed, it helped not to expend energy as well, and after a period of intense activity, rest and quiet made for a pleasant change of pace…if less pleasant than some things.

Nevya traced one nail over Zeff Rogu's bare chest, appreciating the hard muscle under her palm. He had pressurized his cell to replicate the thinner atmosphere of Uba IV, and so it was the only place onworld he could strip off his armor and show his true face. Nevya had killed one or two Ubese in her time, so she saw the signs in Zeff's face—high, strong cheekbones; smooth cheeks that had never seen or needed a razor; and overlarge, brilliantly bright eyes, though at the moment they were closed in sleep. He seemed untroubled by the cold of her naked body against his; if anything, she had warmed a little against him.

Secure in his hypobaric chamber, he did not wear even a rebreather, and his nostrils flared and contracted as he breathed. Nevya could smell the luck on him—imprisoned by the views of younger species, he would have called it feeling the Force—and it was not without effort that she kept herself from feeding on his soup. Defenseless in sleep, he would never wake in time to stop her…even thinking about it, the pouches on her cheeks tightened to peel back skin flaps and expose her proboscises…

Gritting her teeth, Nevya retracted them again, smoothing out her face until she could have passed for a Human. Zeff's luck would be delicious, make her stronger, but even if Darth Alecto wouldn't have killed her for it, she enjoyed him more alive. She wondered idly who knew; it had been easier to conceal aboard the Unquenchable Fire than in the tight confines of the camp. Certainly Darth Alecto knew, as did several of Nevya's fellow Anzati, though none of them seemed to care. Perhaps the telepathic plant girl, Megaera, had some notion, but if she had, she'd been wise enough not to mention it.

Just as she set her head back on Zeff's shoulder, Nevya heard a faint series of taps—almost on the edge of hearing, far too soft for even an unmasked Ubese to hear. Recognizing one of the Brotherhood's codes, she slipped out of bed, smiling with private pride as Zeff did not even stir in his sleep. Dressing quickly in her second's crimson, Nevya strapped her sword belt around her waist and ghosted to the pressure door. It took only a few seconds for the airlock to even out to Lisal's pressure before she opened the door and squinted against the sun.

Keshthel bowed. "I'm sorry to disturb you, Lady Khiyali."

Nevya tugged up her hood to shield her eyes from some of the midday glare. "What is it?"

"Darth Alecto's on her way back."

Nevya glanced at her chrono with a frown; Zeff would need to rest before they could have any more fun together, but she hadn't expected her master back from Cundassa for hours. "Already?"

"There's been a comm, my lady."

Giving him a pointed look, Nevya asked, "Would you like me to guess…?"

Keshthel flinched. "From the Unquenchable Fire. Darth Hokhtan's called a council meeting at 2530 Imperial time."

Only half an hour or so, then. That was unexpected as well, but Nevya knew it would do no good trying to pry more information out of Keshthel. "Very well. Go."

"Yes, my lady." Keshthel bowed again before he darted off.

They had all been like that since Nevya had returned—since she had emerged, victorious, from the bowels of the Abattoir. For all she had had to cajole, wheedle, almost beg Darth Alecto for permission to exercise her centennial privilege, she had proved it a worthwhile risk—had proven herself equal to Azeroth Seji, her disgraced predecessor, which even old Qritzel had never done. Now there could be no disputing her station—she was Darth Alecto's second, and now she was second only to Darth Alecto.

And I earned that. She had struggled, labored, fought, and nearly died…and she had faced things worse still when she had descended among the gas vents to confront that haunting laughter…

Even in the bright sunlight, Nevya shuddered, wrapping her scarlet jacket closer around herself. If Darth Alecto had feared that plumbing new depths of the Abattoir would inflate her ego as it had Azeroth's, that was a baseless fear; having escaped with her sanity by the skin of her teeth, Nevya had even deeper respect for her master being willing to go on to yet another realm of horror beneath. Even if the gateway to the Heart of the Abattoir had opened for her, Nevya was not sure she would have had the willpower to go through it.

The plateau that would one day support Darth Alecto's fortress was a hundred kilometers from the nearest city—close enough to move supplies, but far enough that anyone who stumbled into their camp had no good excuse. Darth Alecto would not waste the Scourge for something as simple as a trip into Cundassa, but she had tropospheric speeders available for the trip; Nevya wasn't sure whether the tiny glint on the horizon was her master's speeder or just a figment of her imagination, but it was best not to take chances.

Fortunately, Nevya had only to glance around to spot Rhyna heading her way. The young sister bowed and said, "Lady Khiyali, the Near-Human boy and the feline have returned."

Nevya narrowed her eyes. "They have names."

Rhyna tossed a glower toward the modular dormitories. "None of them use ours."

Baring her teeth, Nevya said, "I'm not their commander."

Her tone cleared Rhyna's recalcitrant look in a hurry. "Yes, my lady. Nillan and Fruuna.  They've returned with their code."

"Good." Nevya had missed the previous groups' versions of the code-retrieval exercise, but Zeff had brief her on it in the short time it took them to shrug off their various hangers-on. "I'll need to brief Darth Alecto when she returns—are there any updates from our brethren in the field?"

Rhyna consulted her datapad. "Davess has reached Exodeen. The natives are non-humanoid, but he's gotten himself in with some sort of economic mission."

Nevya called up a galactic map from her imagecaster. Exodeen sat astride a hyperlane intersection, but… "That's closer to Lady Gasald's territory than…Darth Hokhtan's."

She hoped Rhyna thought she had caught herself from saying Darth Saleej's rather than ours. She spent so much time with Darth Alecto, speaking in terms of Imperial activities and galactic conquest, that she sometimes fell into the bad habit of adopting their language herself.

Rhyna shrugged, oblivious after all. "He doesn't have to act, but at least now he can."

"True. What else?"

"Nothing else, my lady."

Nevya frowned. "What about Obroa-skai?"

"Carstakka is there; I can only imagine how enthralled she is, wiling away the hours in the Celebratus Archive." Rhyna tried a smirk. "We should have sent Qritzel."

Once Nevya's senior brother, now just the foremost of her many juniors, Qritzel Sheol had declined the role of second even when he had outranked her. He would never disobey Darth Alecto, but his talents were better suited to the archival and training roles he supervised on Anzat. Rhyna knew all this, of course, so Nevya favored her with a half-smile. "At least Carstakka will be ready the moment the command comes in, and won't have to mark her place in her databook."

Rhyna laughed, and Nevya dispatched her with a wave of her hand. Azeroth had rarely indulged anything short of worshipful respect, even when Vandak had reigned; he had treated Qritzel with some measure of courtesy, and Katrijan and a few others had been in his good graces, but the majority of the brethren learned to avoid the Temple of Shadows or longed for the days when their true master was in residence on Anzat. Nevya was resolved never to be that kind of second, especially when she had centuries of life ahead of her—centuries even the most powerful Sith Lord could not wrest from the Force.

The shimmer at the horizon was Darth Alecto's airspeeder, and Nevya picked her way through the construction droids to what would someday be the fortress's landing pad. The speeder folded up its wings and touched down, and Nevya knelt in the grass as the ramp lowered. Rosyit was first out, vigilant for danger, but Darth Alecto was right behind him, and when she saw Nevya she smiled. Apart from a brief conversation on Anzat while Nevya recovered from the ordeal of her second trip through the Abattoir, they had not spoken in over a month.

"Rise, sister," she commanded. "What news from the Brotherhood?"

Nevya told her of Davess's arrival on Exodeen, then asked, "And the Lisal Council, Master?"

"We've just been discussing that." Darth Alecto gestured as the towering figure of Shrizzzqadl ducked out of the speeder. "I think we've struck the proper balance of intimidation and incentive."

"Speaking of which, Master, Nillan and Fruuna are back."

Shrizzzqadl rasped, "How delightful."

"You didn't achieve your skill without practice," Darth Alecto chided. "They'll take time to reach your level, but that time is invested, not wasted."

Shrizzzqadl hissed, but in a way Nevya thought might be mollification, or at least grudging acceptance. For herself, Nevya admired the way Darth Alecto reinforced her own doctrine and stroked the skull-faced Zanibar's ego in the same breath. Though centuries older than her master, Nevya had even less experience in leadership—Vandak's and Azeroth's iterations of the Brotherhood had been more about monarchical command—and she found herself taking mental notes whenever Darth Alecto interacted with her subordinates on either side.

"Go," Darth Alecto said, waving a hand in dismissal. Switching to Anzat, she said, "You too, Rosyit—I expect Rhyna is waiting."

Rosyit looked briefly discombobulated. "I…yes, Master. Lady Khiyali."

As he strode off, Darth Alecto said, "A useful piece of information. Thank you for that."

"It's helpful to keep them off-balanced?" Nevya guessed. "The more you know, the more omniscient you seem?"

"Yes, that. But you also need to know your people.  Darth Hokhtan, and Darth Saleej before him, know every one of us, and what we are capable of.  Zedum did not bother learning much about me, and the result was that I got…got…"

She stopped, frowned, and asked in Basic, "'Anointed'?"

Nevya had to think about it. "We don't really have a word for that—not in the sense you mean it."

"Huh. Jeh shrayd anointed kasne'a loht." I got anointed from under him.

Contractions and idioms continued to elude her, and sometimes she slowed when she needed to think about the words, but Nevya was amazed how much Anzat her master had picked up in little more than a year; they barely spoke Basic to one another when they were alone anymore. "I will remember, Master."

Darth Alecto nodded and started walking. "Darth Hokhtan called for me?"

"A council meeting at 2530 Imperial, Master. Evidently he gave no further details."

"I would not expect him to."

"Perhaps Obroa-skai?" Nevya asked.

Darth Alecto shook her head. "Shakelli is dealing with that, I think. It will take some time."

"What about Carstakka?"

"I will bring it up. Where is Zeff?"

"Still asleep, Master." Darth Alecto raised her eyebrows above a faint smile Nevya did not understand. "Do you disapprove?"

Darth Alecto shrugged. "As long as it does not interfere with either of your service to me, I am indifferent."

"On Anzat, he would be barely more than a child," Nevya said. "I enjoy him, but that's all there is."

"Zeff is not even ten years younger than I am," Darth Alecto pointed out, her smirk widening and her violet eyes gleaming. "If he is a child, what does that make me?"

"My master," Nevya replied at once.

The Sith Lord grinned. "Nice save."

She walked on, still grinning to herself, but Nevya frowned. "I hope you don't think passing the sixth level—"

"No." Darth Alecto stopped, no longer smiling, and switched to Basic. "Your loyalty is beyond question to me, Nevya. More even than my Sith, you're my strong right hand."

Nevya bowed her head, gratified by that praise, even as she wondered if Vandak had ever said or even thought such a thing about Azeroth. ''But I am not Azeroth. I serve her because she is my master; he served Vandak because that was how he could best serve himself.''

As she thought further, Nevya's brow furrowed. "Do you question Zeff's loyalty?"

Darth Alecto did not reply at once, and Nevya tensed; she could see her master weighing her, deciding whether to trust her. After a moment, Darth Alecto said, "You know how Zeff came into my service?"

"After Milagro. The Council of Five gave him to you from Lady Gasald."

Darth Alecto nodded. "Some of my fellow Sith Lords have suggested Zeff never really left Gasald's service."

"That…what, that he is a spy?" When Darth Alecto nodded, Nevya asked, "Do you believe this?"

Darth Alecto shook her head. "I've had no proof of it, and he's obeyed all my commands."

"Why did you not tell me this?"

"Nothing creates betrayal like a false accusation of it. I learned that on Korriban."

Nevya had heard her master describe her Sith training only rarely, and never in detail, but though she remained curious, this was not the time. "But you allowed me to be close to him?"

"If he's loyal, there was no danger. And if not…Zeff's talented, but he's no match for you."

And you were perfectly positioned to spy on him in turn, Nevya thought, but she could not muster much indignation at being used that way; she was too busy feeling humbled. She reflected on how easy it would be for an Anzat to underestimate the cunning of a relative infant, and die for that arrogance. And Zeff was fun, but Nevya would kill him without remorse if he was disloyal.

When she did not reply, Darth Alecto said, "Keep this to yourself; if it's nothing, I don't want to waste a potential Sith Lord because some fool let his mistrust for Gasald cloud his judgment."

"Of course, Master." Nevya frowned. "What if it wasn't a mistake? If another Sith deliberately—"

"Don't think it hasn't occurred to me," Darth Alecto said, crossing her arms. "I maintain a healthy skepticism of all of them."

Even having passed the fourth level of the Abattoir, Nevya had rarely been party to Darth Vandak's counsels, but she had seen and heard enough to understand that Vandak had treated most other Sith Lords with a sort of amused indulgence. Centuries old and terrifyingly powerful, he had looked upon them more as diversions than beings; only Darth Saleej had merited any real respect from him, and having met Darth Saleej herself and been blindsided by the overwhelming aroma of his luck, Nevya could understand why. Azeroth had shared some of that perspective, but with only a fraction of Vandak's abilities, and he had paid the price when Darth Alecto cast him down. But now Nevya served a Sith Lord who could not afford to dismiss all others as threats; as powerful as her master was, she was not beyond harm, or as mighty as Vandak had been.

And in the end, for all his power, even Vandak had not been invincible.

"That's probably wise, Master."

"I love it when we're on the same screen. Now, my friend, if there's nothing else, I need to attend to my master."

Nevya bowed, and Darth Alecto turned into the modular building that housed her communication suite. Though as temporary as the other structures, this one was not the drab of forest garrison buildings, but matte black from a combination of armor and sensor jammers. If any system short of a destroyer's heavy scanner could intercept the hardened structure's signals, Nevya had never seen it.

Left to her own devices, Nevya checked in on Keshthel, Rosyit, and Rhyna—the latter two conversing together near the edge of the bluff—then the handful of surviving death row inmates in the prefabricated brig Darth Alecto had requisitioned from the Imperial Navy. The whispered conversations in the brig dropped into silence as Nevya took her time pacing through. Only a few of her master's Sith disciples had yet to go through the code exercise, which was fortunate, because there were only so many convicted murderers, rapists, and smugglers to throw at them. Those too out of shape, too old, or too infirm served to feed the brethren in residence, which helped to fractionally alleviate their discomfort being around so many Force users. It also doubled as an effective means of motivating the rest of the prisoners to play Darth Alecto's game. She had promised freedom and a full pardon to anyone who killed one of her disciples, but even with Megaera and the boy Nillan in the field, not one of the convicts had claimed the prize—or survived to try again.

Nevya did not know what to make of Megaera, Darth Alecto's pet project. In many ways the girl was small and fragile, though her plant nature obviated much of the need to eat that would dog the others. Her telepathy was still raw, but Nevya found it more unsettling than even the other Sith seemed to. Worse, the younger brethren did not seem to appreciate the danger; like Vandak, they looked on Megaera, saw a child of a childlike species, and stopped their analysis there. Nevya needed to shake them out of their apathy without appearing too unsettled by a child herself.

Whether Megaera was worth the ire of the Sith from whom Darth Alecto had, in effect, stolen her, only Darth Alecto could choose. Shortly before Nevya had left to face the Abattoir, Darth Alecto had confided that she had addressed the matter with Darth Hokhtan before it could reach his ears another way. Nevya could only hope her master's master valued loyalty and honesty as much Darth Alecto did.