K’tana shook her head in bewilderment. She noticed the sensation of her lekku swaying across her lower back as she heaved an exasperated sigh. Why someone would believe that she was the right Assassin for the job was utterly beyond her comprehension. Even though she was very well known by the Shadow Lady and had been in her quarters this did not mean that she would be the right person to assassinate her.
Regardless, the Priestess said she would take the mission. She even managed to keep her face straight and not stab the messenger in the stomach, despite vivid fantasies of watching the young Human bleed to death at her feet. Covering her feelings was a trick she had learned from watching the former Consul. Several times in the past she had been sure he wanted to smack her. Rather than contorting into rage, however, his face had simply grown placid and impassive.
When the messenger walked away, K’tana let the mask slip and stuck out stuck her tongue, glaring daggers into his back. Turning away and walking back into the bar in which she had met the contact for her super secret orders, K'tana nodded to the bouncer and made her way to a table in the back.
The Miraluka smiled as K’tana sat back down and ordered another round of spiced whiskey. The way the Consul’s lips pulled into a smirk, K’tana knew that her friend suspected something.
“Something on your mind?” Atyriu’s voice was smooth as velvet yet carried an underlying tone that said she knew K'tana’s thoughts were somewhere else. The Twi'lek's mind flitted across the room, supernatural senses scanning each and every corner of the bar before homing back in on her Miraluka companion.
The Priestess felt the Consul prodding her mind, the Miraluka’s concern and desire to help scratching through the wall’s of K’tana’s broken mind. Needing to remove herself from the situation, she looked at the Consul’s bronze face and projected a thought to her.
Not here, my Lady. We must speak in private.
The Shadow Lady smiled in understanding, taking the other woman's hand. They stood up together and started towards the door. Both felt eyes on them as they walked out of the bar.
They walked rapidly and in silence to the Consul’s chambers. Atyriu opened the door, invited the Twi’lek inside and stood in the center of the room. K'tana stood inside the door, her hand on her lightsaber while her mind extended past the closed doors as she searched the corridor for danger.
Atyriu stood, her bronze hands folded in front of her, only a few feet away from the Priestess. She waited patiently for the Twi'lek to speak.
"This must be very important for you to want to leave a full drink on the table."
K'tana had not even noticed that she had done so as they left the cantina, choosing to keep her mind fractured and off the mission she had accepted instead.
"My lady, your life is in danger," the Twi’lek spoke softly as her green eyes remained steady on the Shadow Lady's blindfold.
Atty closed the distance and ran a fingertip down the woman's lekku.
"You'll keep me safe." Atyriu joked, a smirk playing across her lips.
K'tana wormed back and against the door as her fingers made contact with the lightsaber on her hip.
"From me, my lady." Ktana's easy smile disappeared as her violet blade ignited between them.
"Think about what you're doing K'tana." The Consul stood stone still, her voice taking on an air of authority as she spoke quietly, almost in a whisper.
"I have made up my mind." K'tana spun suddenly and drove her saber through the door and smiled when she heard a man shriek on the otherside.
Retracting her blade, she turned for a moment to look at Atyriu.
"Move back, Lady Consul!" she hissed, her arm making shooing motions as she spun and pulled open the door, her blade at the ready.
Both of the Assassins’ teachers stood next to the man she had impaled. Marick wore a very slight smirk as he gave his student a small nod. Celevon was laughing so hard that the drink he held sloshed up the the sides of the glass and yet he managed to prevent the contents from spilling out.
The man on the floor wailed as K'tana stood poised to strike, but apprehension stayed her hand. She felt calming fingers slip up her back and onto her shoulder.
Atty slipped past the Twi'lek to lay her hands on the dying man. His screams echoed through the halls as the Shadow Lady began to heal him with the Force.
While the Medic was busy Celevon stepped up next to his friend, offering her his drink. She swallowed the amber liquid in a single gulp as she disengaged her lightsaber.
"I told you we were going to test you." His voice was teasing but not in a degrading way.
She went to glare at Marick, but the Consul Emeritus had already disappeared down the hall and left nothing but a feeling of smugness in his wake.
"Karking hell, Cel. This wasn't the kind of test I was expecting."
"That's exactly why we did it. We needed to know just how loyal you are."
"You're a rancor butt," she said, tossing him a scowl as a smile danced over her mouth.
"There." Atyriu clapped her hands and smiled down at the man who they had hired to convince the young Twi'lek to take the Consul’s assassination mission.
"If I had failed?" K'tana directed the question at the Shadow Lady, knowing the answer but wanting to hear it from the Consul herself.
Atyriu turned, a sad smile on her mouth. It was then K'tana noticed the beautiful woman's shoulders had sagged. Her back was not as straight as it usually was and the weight of rule seemed to tug at all of her exotic features.
"I would have killed you. Or, had you killed me...then-"
"Then Celevon and Marick would have." K'tana finished Atyriu's sentence. Her voice remained flat, her features placid. She buried her urge to shriek in rage. She felt betrayed. Until now, she realized, no one trusted her.
She looked from Atty to Celevon's smirking and proud face. He had trusted her, but the Consul had had her doubts.
"I hope I have proven my loyalty. And I hope it was worth it." Her body bristled, but she kept control of her voice, keeping it flat and empty. Just like Marick had taught her.
She started down the hallway, but stopped several feet away.
"Atyriu?" She said softly over her shoulder, keeping her face turned away as burning tears suddenly welled up in her eyes.
"Yes dear?" The Consul's voice was soft, she knew what K'tana was about to say.
"Find someone else to warm your bed from now on." Without waiting for a response, she calmly and quietly walked away.