Mind Games

 

Chapter Five

 

I.

As they stood there with her torso exposed and his anger laid bare, Prescost glared up at him. Embarrassment colored her cheeks, reddening them more so than they usually were. Anger churned in the depths of her bright gaze as if there was a looming hurricane threatening to break among the bank of her sanity.

 

If his ire was not all encompassing, he would have felt a slight wonder in the fact that she scowled at him in such a way. When he held her under his scrutinous gaze, she never shrank away like many others would. She was one of the few that could withstand it. He admired her for it.

 

Her silence constricted around him, slithering and tightening inside of him like a very large vine snake. It poisoned his thoughts, and he felt an overwhelming urge for to to give him the location of his child. He could not break free.

 

There were times that he felt completely helpless. During those events, she was the one causing it. Adaki did not know if it was infatuation with her or if it was something deeper. It was strange to him. He liked being alone with her, where he could abandon the ceaseless posturing to some degree. It was a welcomed change of pace to be able to relax somewhat. He was never truly able to let his guard down completely, even when he was alone with her, but some measure of stability was better than none at all. Yet, it was his curse.

 

He hated her for her ability to make him comfortable. The familiarity scorched the planes of his mind, leaving its permanent impression on him. When he was around her, he felt like she was tearing him apart. Nothing in the Academy on Korriban could have prepared him for the trials that this simple agent placed him through.

 

His eyes closed into tiny slits until the crimson irises could just barely be seen. Adaki studied her. Still, the fury seethe inside of him, billowing as if the emotion was giant furnace. He could sense the anger and hesitation roiling off of her in waves of beautiful emotion.

 

Prescost ripped her gaze from his and stared at the floor. She crossed her arms before her and hide her chest from his view. It infuriated him that she had the nerve to keep things from him.

“Tell me!” he boomed, suddenly. The outburst was unusual for him. He personified cold and calculating. Each action he took was deliberate. Adaki was constantly weighing the outcome of events in his mind.

 

However, Prescost was different. The woman had the ability to get underneath his skin. She clawed him with emotions that perplexed him as if she was a predator and he was her prey. Broad, keen talons of feelings pierced inside of him, lancing the darkness around his heart like a boil.

 

He activated the saber. The orange blades hissed out aggressively.

 

She back away from him, taking a few steps backwards. Her rear hit the edge of the throne. Prescost fell into the seat ungracefully.

 

Adaki grunted, thrusting the blade forward. One of the ends slammed into the plush back of the chair and into the wall. The saber whined angrily.

 

Her eyes widened as fear lurked deeply in her lustrous orbs. He had wanted to see the terror in her eyes for so long. Strands of her hair floated down from the side of her head. It landed and disintegrated on the top of the orange, radiant blade. On top of her head, tiny bits of debris flowed downward as if it were snowing.

 

Adaki's eyes narrowed as he looked at Prescost's pitiful expression. He tried to dispute the effect that she had on him within his own mind. Feeling a stab at his heart seeing her so frightened of him, he frowned.

 

Yes, he had longed to see dread consume her. The agent had tricked him from the moment that they first met. Then, she had the audacity to sneak inside his heart, clutching at sensations that he had long though was dead. There were times that he viewed his emotions for her as weak.

 

Feeling the weight of his actions crashing down upon him, he sighed. Adaki hated her. It was not so cut in dry. Because of the way she made him love her, he hated her. She made him betray his own thoughts even after he was prepared to give up everything to his Order.

 

Finally, when he could bear it no longer, he reacted his saber and hooked the hilt back onto his belt.

 

The piteous look did not leave her face, however. In addition to it, fury clouded her complexion. That he was use to. He could feed off of her anger, taking it into himself. He could not understand the need not to harm her for her insolence.

 

“I don't want to hurt you, damn it,” he growled.

 

“You're doing a damned fine job of convincing me that,” Prescost sneered as she moved backwards in the seat as if to flee from him.

 

“Prescost,” he sighed. “I understand that you thought I was dead, but that is hardly my fault. There is no reason, no justification, for you hiding the events that occurred in my absence from me. I am entitled to know these thins, and I am entitled to see my child.”

 

II.

 

She got over her terror of him rather quickly. He was to be her husband (in her mind), and she knew that she could not spend most of her life afraid of him. The fear would come and go. He was Sith, after all. Prescost relaxed in his admission that he didn't want to hurt her.

 

Her respect for him grew that day. She had expected her former master as little more than a selfish brute. He had no skill in the inner workings of intelligence. Just like the other childish Sith, Adaki was not suppose to be able to deduce her motives.

 

However, this Sith assassin before her was another beast entirely. He seldom disappointed her. She feared his reaction about their child, but she knew knew that he needed to know.

 

“Cynthia,” she simply said, reaching out and taking his sanguine hand in hers. It amazed her the difference in their skin-tone. Where one was light, the other was dark.

 

In the future, it would be the cause of tension between others and herself. They would call her a zenophile, a lover of aliens. It was true, though. She did not fear or hate other species. In fact, it was not just a zabrak that she admired. She admired all aliens.

 

“Cynthia?”

 

“Yes,” she replied. It had been so long since she went by her first name. She had always went by Prescost since her induction into Intelligence. However, she thought that Adaki should at least know that much about her. “My first name is Cynthia.”

 

He did not answer her. She imagined he felt like he was going to faint. There were many things that he had found out that day.



"You have a strong, little girl," she gushed, smiling with a pride that only a parent could have. A part of her twisted in fear, knowing that he would want a boy to continue his lineage.



"A little girl?" he parroted. She knew that it was quite possible that he would faint. Of course, when he learned of her ultimate betrayal, she and her child would be dead.



"Yes, a little girl. I remember you telling me that more horns on Zabraks are a sign of beauty. Your daughter will have many."



"Did you name her?"



"Yes," she replied. "Her name is Kyic."



"After my mother."



"After your mother," she agreed with him. It was funny. There were times when she felt comfortable with Adaki. This was one of those moments where she did not. She wanted to sink into the floor and be miles away.

“Take me to her,” Adaki ordered. He took his outer robe off and cast the frock over her shoulders. While it would seem he did this because he cared about her well-being, it was because he did not want any other male to view her naked form.

 

Prescost was silent. For some reason, she still seemed hesitant to take him to the child. Had he known the truth, then he would have understood her fear.

 

She had no way of knowing that he knew that their daughter was close by. It explained the strange presence he had felt from the moment he had arrived on Alderaan. Adaki had been aware of his own daughter before he had even known she existed or before Prescost had even mention anything. While he knew what that meant, she did not. Their child was going to be gifted in the Force.

 

"Very well," Prescost responded finally. She had decided that the best way for him to find out the truth was for him to see it with his own eyes. It was certainly easier than explaining it to him, at any rate.

 

Sweat trickled down her neck. There was only one time that she was this fearful. It was when her parents were murdered by Republic forces, and she discovered their bodies. His supposed reaction was worse. The reason was simple. She feared for her child and herself.



Again, she knew that if he attempted to hurt the child that she would have to kill him. It wouldn't be the first time that she would have to defend hers. She would do anything to protect Kyic.



Reaching down, she released the strap holding her rifle securely to her back. Adaki was quicker than she was. If she was going to protect their child, then she would have to be faster.



They entered a mostly deserted room. Several killiks made themselves busy fiddling with the various leather straps connected to the ceiling. Even in the many months she was surrounded by them, she still had no idea what the objects were for. At that point, she stopped caring.



A small wail came from the bassinet in the center of the room. She knew that it was time for him to realize the truth about their child. All she could do was pray that he had some tiny amount of compassion inside of him.

 

III.

Silently, Adaki approached the bassinet. He inched up beside it. His heart pounded in his chest. A queer sensation shot through him. Nothing in his life had prepared him for that moment. Every tomb he faced on Korriban, every mission that his master tasked him with, and even the mounting war, itself, paled in comparison to the emotions surging through him.

 

Adaki wondered if other fathers felt the way he did. A minute ago, he was sure of his purpose. He knew he would use his master until he had no need of her anymore. Presently, he was unsure of the future. This infant had changed all of his goals.

 

Wrapping his hands around the edge of the basket, he gripped it tightly. His knuckles turned white as if the entire world shook underneath him. He peered over the lip and looked down upon the swaddled infant.

 

She was smaller than the average zabrak, a product from being half-human. Still, the markings of his race was there. Tiny nubs on top of her head would become horns, heralding important events that the child would undertake in her life. Despite her size, she looked very strong. Kyic opened her eyes and looked at him, however.

 

Adaki almost fell backwards. The bassinet shook under his sudden movement as if a sudden gale had infiltrated the room. Even as Kyic squawked as if she was a tiny bird and her eyes squinted together in fury, he could not pull his gaze away from her eyes.

 

They were almond shaped and large for a zabrak. He had presumed they were that size because of her mother. Prescost had beautiful, blue eyes. It was one of the things that had drawn Adaki to her.

 

Still, that was not what caused his surprised. Her gaze was dark, devoid of any whiteness. He could barely make out the iris. It was as if an inky film coated her the sockets.

 

“What the hell is the meaning of this!” he boomed, turning his fiery gaze at Prescost.

 

“I didn't have a choice,” Prescost stammered. In a heated display, she held up her hands to try to stop his advance.

 

Of course, she would, he thought to himself. The woman had begged him not to become angry. He should have seen it then.

 

“She would have died if I hadn't done that. There was no other option.”

 

“No other option!” Adaki mocked as ice coated his tone. Ire blanketed his vision red. The only thing he saw was his daughter and her ebony gaze. “So you let them join her!? You let them turn my daughter into a bug?! If she wasn't strong enough to live, then you should have let her die! That is a better option that turning her into a freak! What's next? Are you going to be joined? I think you've been spending far too much time with Vector.”

 

“How could you say such a thing?” she hissed as if he had physically struck her.

 

His stomach flopped queasily. Adaki was not thinking straight. Everything was crashing down upon him at once, and the world spun before him. He would not faint; he would take this in stride.

 

“Once I thought you could be more than a Sith. I thought a part of you was good and slightly compassionate. I thought you were a man. Obviously, I was wrong. The one and only thing that matters to you is power. It's not family,” she whispered, heatedly.

 

His lips twitched in a snarl. Because of what he was, nothing he had done would be classified as good. He thought she would have learned that by now. Obviously, not.

 

“You are no better than Jadus.”

 

Adaki's first urge was to snatch Prescost by the throat and to chock the life out of her. Yet, he held himself back. That would only prove her point, and he would regret it later. He did not understand how this pathetic woman could become one of the most beautiful things in the galaxy. Instead of hurting her, he simply glared at her. Coldly.

 

“I fail to see how that makes me anything like Jadus,” he growled.

 

“All you care about is power,” Prescost shot back. She was the only one who stood up to him. He had yet to decide if she was stupid or merely brave. At that moment, he would wager on her being foolish.

 

He lifted his hand and rubbed his chin. Through the forest of confusion, he tried to find his way.

 

“If something is not strong enough to survive on its own, then it should die. If something doesn't add to your powerbase, then it is useless to you and you discard it. You probably think its my fault that I was captured, that I was weak. Should I have died then? How long until you no longer have a need of me? Will you simply cast me aside? Hmm?”

 

Adaki looked away, trying to hide the way that her words affected him. He pinched his lips together in a grim line, set his chin firmly, and turned away from her.

 

What she spoke was the truth. If he did not feel for her, he would have cut her down long ago. There were times when his emotions for her had placed him in danger. Plus, it wouldn't be too long before other ambitious Sith figured out his affections for Prescost and use her against him in their search for power.

 

“I see that you have been fine in my absence, thinking I was dead,” he said over his shoulder. The words burned in his mouth, purging from his body as if they were streams of vomit.

 

Prescost's intake of air mixed with the howls coming from the infant. Each cry and sigh tightened around him, threatening to suffocate him.

 

“You can just keep on as you were, if that's easier for you. I love you. Either you believe that, or you don't. I'm not going to stand here, among the killiks, and try to convince you.”

 

As he began to walk away, a part of him foolishly hoped that she would stop him. Hope beat in his heart, fluttering with each breath. He tried to kill that emotion as he did with every sensation that she inspired within him.

 

“Apparently,” he called over his shoulder, “you didn't miss me one iota.”

 

IV.

She heard the acid in his voice and the bitter refusal to see the truth of her words. Adaki was still young in the ways of life. Prescost was more experienced in the ways of the world. She had experienced other men long ago. Well, relationship wise, at least, she thought to herself.



"I did not miss you one iota?" she breathed out, feeling the words sting her flesh. She looked quickly away and tried to pretend that they did not hurt. Prescost could not. "When I thought you were dead, I was in such excruciating agony. I didn't want to live anymore. Without you, I have nothing."



Reaching down, she picked up their child. This little girl was the hope of everything. She was her connection to Adaki, the man she loved. He swore that he loved her. It was not enough for her. not anymore.



She brought her gaze up and locked it on his back. "I was ecstatic when I found out that I was with your child. Though our child, I would always have a connection with you. Yes, you can call it selfish and pathetic. I just wanted her to remember you. Then, she came too early. None of the medical droids in the city could save her. Nothing I could have done. I could not lose your child after I lost you. Vector told me that his hive could probably help her. I almost died bringing her into this world. It was worth it and still is worth it."

 

“And she is never going to know a life outside of the slavery of being a joiner,” Adaki seethed. “I was subjected to slavery, you know that. Living in chains, literal or not, is no life at all.”

 

“She will be given a choice when she is older,” Prescost tried to assure him. It was a lie. She always was able to think quickly on her toes. At least, that was what her Uncle had always told her. Of course, that trait was welcomed in an agent. Because of her numerous identities, it helped to be able to come up with lies quickly.

 

A slight pain burst from her heart, overtaking most of her sanity. She did not expect the remorse from lying to Adaki. It shocked her that it was not easy to bend the truth with him.

 

“They will give her the option of choosing whether to remained joined or to be unjoined and leave the hive. Vector assured me of that. He was joined willingly, you know. Not every hive on Alderaan joins people against their wills.”

 

"And just what do you think she is going to choose?" he countered. "After a lifetime of brainwashing, of course she is going to choose to remain with the hive. She might as well be given no choice at all. It's just an illusion, a 'promise' to appease you."



"I don't believe that," she stated steadfastly. "I understand that it is difficult for you to trust, but the only one you need to trust is me. I believe that they will truly give her the choice, and I believe that she will choose whatever is best for her. In the meantime, she will grow up strong. Isn't that a good thing?"



"Very well," Adaki sighed. "I am holding you accountable for what happens. If she chooses to stay with these insects, then you will pay the price for your foolishness when that time comes. Until that time, I will give you the benefit of the doubt. Take it, or leave it."

 

There was nothing that Prescost could do. She would bide her time to figure out a way to pacify Adaki. As he learned more about his daughter, he would come to love her. Prescost knew it was only a matter of time.