The Left-Hand Path

Part 3: Alderaan

Acaciah settled into her bunk on ship and quickly fell onto an exhausted sleep. Her body squirmed in spite of her enervation, unused to sleeping alone anymore. As she dozed she felt the room shift around her, until she was back in the familiar quarters of the Executor, curled beside Anakin in bed. He rolled atop her; Acaciah sighed blissfully as he kissed and nipped her lips, and worked his way down her body. Vader tugged at her nipples, drawing them taut. Acaciah squirmed and scratched at him eagerly as he took his kisses further down to her navel and finally to her thighs, placing a love bite to mark his territory. Vader flicked her clit with his tongue and she gave another delighted moan, twisting her fingers into his hair. She pushed his face into her eager sex, and Vader grasped her hips as he thrust his tongue into her. He continued to pleasure Acaciah until she teetered on the brink of orgasm, then stopped and looked her in the eye.

Acaciah pulled him to her, opening herself wide in her desire. Vader grinned. “You want me, mi priana?”

“Yes, Anakin!” she breathed.

He pinched her nipples, stroking their aching peaks. “Open yourself to me then,” he said. “I want all of you. I will be inside you.”

Acaciah dropped her shields and Vader plunged into her body and mind. She cried in bliss at his intrusion. He rammed into her willing body; when she came he slipped her legs over his shoulders to bang her harder, determined to possess her fully. She might have run from their bond in body, but she was still his in spirit. He would see to it that she couldn’t forget it, even in the midst of the damnable Jedi. Acaciah was shuddering against him. “Anakin!” she cried, his name a pleasured moan on her lips. Her tension drove him over the edge; he came and collapsed into her.

“I love you, mi priana,” he sighed against her neck. Acaciah’s eyes snapped wide open, and she held Vader’s intent gaze with disbelief. He smiled at her, the angelic look returning to his face. “You love me,” he continued, “Or you wouldn’t let me touch you now. You’re not my prisoner here.”

Acaciah said nothing; she felt as if she couldn’t breathe, let alone speak.

“You came to me tonight, darling. You wanted to come home; you belong here with me.”

Acaciah bolted from their bed, the sound of Vader’s laughter echoing in her ears as she sat up in her bunk on Dex’s ship.

Dexster stuck his head in the cabin. “Are you alright, Acaciah?”

She nodded mutely.

“Let me know if you need anything,” he offered, and headed back to the ship’s controls. Dex shook his head. He’d known Acaciah all her life and had never seen her like this. He hoped Obi-Wan could help her once they were safe on Alderaan.

Obi-Wan Kenobi paced restlessly on the landing platform, eager to see Acaciah alive and well. Dex had told him that she looked wan and restless after her internment on Vader’s ship.

Dex’s ship appeared, and Kenobi have an audible sigh of relief as it landed at last and Acaciah descended its ramp. “Thank you, Dex,” he said.

“Any time, Obi-Wan,” he answered.

“Papa!” Acaciah exclaimed happily.

Obi-Wan embraced her tightly. He looked her over. Dex was right; she had a different demeanor than when she’d left. It was subtle, but indelible; Vader had left his mark on her.

“I missed you,” she said.

“And I missed you, my dear,” he replied. “But who is this?”

“Papa, this is Saramai, she helped me escape. Saramai, this is my father, Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

Saramai curtseyed. “I am honored, Master Jedi. My Lord Vader has spoken of you before.”

“Lord Vader?” Kenobi repeated. “You are free now, young lady.”

Saramai looked at Obi-Wan meekly. “So you say, Master Jedi.”

Acaciah stifled a yawn in spite of herself.

“We should get home,” Obi-Wan said, noting her fatigue, and they stepped into a speeder. The trio sped silently through the city. The evening air was cool and soft, and Acaciah knew she should be happy, but she wasn’t. Her dream on the ship still haunted her. She closed her eyes in meditation. What would she do if she saw Vader again? As a Jedi, it was her duty to try and kill him. She hadn’t done that, instead she’d taken to his bed, giving herself over to him. The other Jedi wouldn’t trust her, and she didn’t blame them. I shouldn’t have come back, she thought, I’m not a Jedi anymore… she paused, was she really thinking this?

‘Stop it Anakin!’ she blared at him psychically. ‘I know who I am!’

‘So do I, mi priana,’ he purred back, tilting her head back for a kiss.

Acaciah moaned and shifted restively. Obi-Wan looked at her, worried. Her thoughts were hidden from him; it was as if she wasn’t there. Saramai noticed his troubled expression.

“Milady has been this way ever since we left our lord,” she said.

“Vader,” Kenobi acknowledged softly. “He is a possessive man.”

Saramai placed her hand over Acaciah’s. “Lord Vader is demanding; he comes to her when she sleeps. He won’t let her rest without him.”

“He is a powerful man,” Kenobi agreed. “Acaciah will need time to be freed from him permanently.”

“Where can she go that he cannot follow her?” Saramai asked. “For all her strength, she is like me; a man’s possession now.”

Obi-Wan had no ready answer to her question.

Acaciah’s eyes snapped open, shaking herself from her reverie.

“You look tired,” her father said.

“I am Papa,” she replied. “Vader is not an easy man to live with.”

The trio entered Kenobi’s quarters and began preparations for dinner. Acaciah was enervated; all she wanted to do was sleep. Soon she would have to face the Jedi Council, and answer for her actions on Vader’s ship. She leaned back and closed her eyes. ‘I have no secrets for them,’ she thought. ‘I spent most of my confinement in Vader’s bed. No major Imperial secrets to be had there.’ The irony of it did not escape her.

Obi-Wan laid a cool cloth on her forehead. “Try not to think about him, Acac He He wants your thoughts to be troubled.”

“Yes, Papa,” she replied.

A knock sounded at their door, and Obi-Wan admitted Mace Windu. Acaciah rose and bowed. Mace waved the gesture aside. “Not necessary, Padawan Sakarte’. How are you feeling?” he asked.

“As well as can be expected,” she answered.

“How did Vader treat you? What did you learn?” Windu asked, cutting right to the chase.

“Aren’t we going to discuss this in front of the Council at large?” Acaciah asked.

“Did he tell you so little of his activities, girl? Are you so naïve? We in this room are the Jedi, what is left of them! I want to know how you survived with Vader for a month when older and wiser Jedi are left dead in his wake!”

Acaciah was speechless; Saramai flinched behind her.

“Who is this?” Windu demanded.

“Saramai helped me escape,” Acaciah began.

“Vader gave you a handmaiden?” Windu gave her a disgusted look that told Acaciah he understood perfectly how she’d escaped Vader’s wrath.

A wave of icy wrath swept through Acaciah; how dare he judge her! In a breath, she pounced on Windu, slamming him into the wall and throttling him unconscious.

“Acaciah! No!” Obi-Wan cried, stricken.

She jumped back like a child caught playing with matches. Kenobi pulled her away and put her in her room. He took her face in his hands. “You cannot mingle in the Dark Side without it affecting you,” he said. “You must not use the Force until you have had time to recover from him.” Acaciah nodded, but her eyes were empty. Obi-Wan tried to cast aside the fears he had for her. He went back to Windu to convince him that he was pushing Acaciah too soon.

Acaciah heard Papa and Master Windu arguing in the next room; it seemed to her the buzzing of flies, nothing of any import. Anakin was right, she thought, and grimaced. Anakin ‘Always Right’ Skywalker, she’d nicknamed him as a child. Once again, the Chosen One lived up to his title. She was not a Jedi anymore; Vader had certainly ruined her contentment with their ways.

Now she was on Alderaan, and she was not satisfied, her spirit was restless. Acaciah came to the dull realization that she was not sorry that she’d throttled Master Windu.

*Sorry is not worth your time,* Vader whispered into her mind. A mischievous smile crossed her lips and she reached for him with the Force. ‘Show me where you are, love,’ he said. *Take me to you now.*

Acaciah obliged him, and stretched past the four walls of her room. Her eyelids drooped. She felt the soft thud of boots on carpet behind her. She let her radiated outward, and he sent her a flush of pleasure as she caressed him with the Force. Vader relaxed, letting her play with him however she liked.

She straddled his hips, and he groaned softly as her tongue grazed against his lips, the cleft of his chin, and down to the curve of his Adam’s apple. Acaciah reached beneath his tunics, teasing his sensitive bud of his nipple. Vader wanted to pull her to him; he needed her there in the flesh. He caressed her back, sending shivers of delight across her skin. ‘I am coming for you, mi priana,’ he said, his eyes dark with possessive need. ‘When I get to you, you’re never going to leave me again.’

Acaciah shivered, realizing that he was going to make her pay for her bid for freedom. She bowed her head. ‘I’m sorry my love,’ she whispered.

‘Then g meg me your father.’

‘You know I cannot do that! For pity’s sake, Anakin, he was your master!’

‘And I am your Master now,’ he declared, taking her chin in his hand. He leaned forward, his mouth taking possession of hers. Acaciah lifted her hips and freed his straining erection. Vader pulled her down onto it, drawing an audible moan from Acaciah. She pumped him eagerly, relishing the feel of him. She wanted to see how far she could push him before he lost control and came inside her. *Mine. You are mine. Say it, Acaciah. You are mine.* he pushed further into her mind.

She quivered, ecstasy overcoming her. *Yes, Anakin! I am yours!* She grabbed his tunic, yanking him to her; their lips intertwined. *And you are mine, Anakin…* She tightened around his shaft; Vader gave a low growl of pleasure as he came.

Obi-Wan sensed a disturbance and burst into Acaciah’s room. He saw her disheveled robes and the lift of her hips and knew instantly what was happening.

“Vader!” he roared, drawing his lightsaber. “Face me like a man, you coward!”

Vader laughed in response. ‘We will meet soon enough, Master Kenobi.’

“Leave Acaciah alone!” Kenobi thundered.

‘You may as well call her Lady Vader, for she’s my apprentice now.’

“I will do no such thing!” Obi-Wan retorted.

Acaciah bowed her head in shame. “I’m so sorry Papa.”

“You will be fine, my dear. It will just take time.”

Acaciah put her head on his shoulder, tears streaming down her face. ‘Fine,’ she thought. ‘If fine means that I will be what I once was, I will never be fine again.’

“Shh, Acaciah. Rest now,” Obi-Wan soothed. He kept vigil over her until she fell asleep.