Remove the conflict between your desires and your duties, peace will come. —Wasif Ali Wasif
Shackled is the fortieth installment in the Untitled New Sith Wars series. Mali Darakhan, now Lord Protector of Corellia, struggles to balance his new duties against personal loyalty to old allies.
Admiral Eymus Dorr leaned forward on the circular table for emphasis, though he kept his seat. The Legislature Building had been selected for this meeting, mostly because it had the tables big enough to seat everyone at once. The gathered group was a who's who of important Corellians. The Diktat, Neran Daikros, Corellia's chief executive, sat with his back to the Great Seal of Corellia, with Senator Jendaya Rose at his right, to make sure nobody misunderstood her ongoing importance to this issue, and Admiral Dorr at his left, in case the situation stopped being political. Around the table were Madrick Trice from the Council; Kaerasa Nybrin, Commissioner of CorSec; Vissica, the Selonian representative of Selonia's Overden; and every single member of the Green Jedi, along with Master Darakhan.
Under the circumstances, it was not surprising that the group had wanted their king to be present, but Corsica Solo felt privately pleased to be invited too. Her uncle had started gently encouraging her to take an interest in Corellian politics the past few months—once enough time had passed after her sister's and brother's assassinations—but she had finally taken him up on the offer when he at last seemed to be having second thoughts. They had sworn her to secrecy, but that only made it more exciting.
"Appointing Master Quindacil to the High Council—" Senator Rose started.
"—is all but an explicit challenge to Corellia," Admiral Dorr finished.
On Corellia, a clandestine council of leaders drifts closer to war with Osarian—and thus, inevitably, with the Republic—until Mali Darakhan walks out, taking most of the Corellian Jedi with him. To avert war and prevent Corellia from weakening, Corsica Solo, heir to the throne, proposes that Mali become the new Supreme Commander of the Corellian Defense Force. Mali is hesitant, but ultimately parlays the idea into appointment as Lord Protector of Corellia.
Two months later, Mali has been mentoring Corsica on leadership, and has not spoken to Tirien Kal-Di following a falling-out due to his appointment. Nal and Kadelle Chun are arrested for attempting to smuggle spice into Talus. When his initial attempts to get the case dropped fail, Mali takes them into "custody" at the Green Jedi Enclave. Kadelle and Corsica strike up an odd friendship while Mali continues to advocate unsuccessfully for the Chuns to be released or pardoned.
After a negative media piece about Corsica's friendship with the Chuns, Mali and Jendaya Rose both lambast the press coverage, generating increasing public controversy over the Chuns' case. Mali takes Kadelle as his date to the Crown Ball at Castel Solo, but the two kiss and realize they have developed feeling for one another. Public interest in the case continues as the Chuns' trial nears and Mali struggles to deal with his other priorities as Lord Protector.
When the Chuns are offered a generous plea deal mandating a five-year prison term, they plan to accept rather than go to trial and be incarcerated for life. A dejected Mali, out of ways to affect the outcome, admits the reality to Corsica, who persuades her uncle, King Jedossen e Solo, to consider the pardon matter himself. Shortly after the Chuns plead guilty, the King's messenger delivers a full pardon for each of them.
Nal is eager to leave Corellia behind, but Kadelle decides to stay, both to pursue her relationship with Mali and get out of her life of crime when she has the chance. The sisters part reluctantly, but Nal is confident in the Corellians' will to keep her safe, and Mali gives Nal back both the Rogue's Gambit and her assassin droid, D-T0X.
Months later, just as all seems well on Corellia, Mali receives an emergency message from Tirien, warning of a grave peril facing the galaxy.
Behind the Scenes[]
Shackled endured more than the usual UNSWS title changes throughout the writing process; working titles include Quarantine (on the outline), Lockdown (during drafting), Confinement (during editing), and Confined (almost up to publication). After several key scenes of the novel took place on the fifth day of the week, Sakaros considered snarkily titling this installment Bendudays with Mali; good taste prevailed.
Sakaros coined the term "netters" as an in-universe equivalent of those who are chronically online (in this case, on the HoloNet).
Sebolto and several of his real-world professional colleagues assembled the dataset to calculate how often Corellian and Galactic New Year's would occur on the same day.
Shout-outs include
Jendaya Rose says, "I can't condone a course of action that will lead us to war", a reference to Padmé Amidala's line in The Phantom Menace, though Jendaya qualifies by adding, "without seeing the plan."
Rosko Todden reflects that most smugglers surrender or "drop[] their shipments at the first sign of a Corellian vessel"; the latter is a take on Greedo's accusation against Han Solo in A New Hope.
