Bloodline

[Dayana Valthren]

Santana stepped out of her chambers with two wine glasses in her hands. They were presumably filled with merlot, the family favorite, but Dayana’s vision could never make sense at it. “Greetings, sister. How fares the talks on Corellia?” She offered one glass forwards with the pleasant, practiced smile of the Valthren family.

However, Dayana reached over and plucked the other glass out of Santana’s hand. “Oh? Do you not trust me?” Santana asked while giggling. Her eyes were an easy tell to see that her joy was genuine.

“It’s merely a habit that I was taught at the Academy,” Dayana explained, “Helps when dealing with Jedi, even if they do claim to have ‘moral authority’ over us.”

“You’re the one who wanted to visit ‘alone and without another soul knowing,’” Santana said with liberal use of air-quotes, “If I didn’t know you better, then I’d figure you came to assassinate me.”

Santana’s lips curled up to a wry smile. “Or perhaps for other reasons.”

Dayana lifted the wine to her lips. If she had eyes, then they would be staring blankly at the other woman. “Or perhaps I’m here to distract you from some other scheme.”

“Perhaps,” Santana echoed, matching the blank expression. After a few moments of silence, her composure cracked to reveal a smirk. “But I’ll mourn the fact that someone so dear to me betrayed me another day. Now then, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Well, I was on my way back to the heart of the Empire. Why would I not see you?”

“Oh come now, sister. We just went over the fact that you cannot hide anything from me.” Santana reached over and clinked their glasses together. “If you’re forgetting common courtesy, then surely something is on your mind.”

The Miraluka, the adopted child of the family, sipped her wine. It was an effective tactic to bide her time, to swallow her concerns. Not that indulging in liquor could always be trusted either. “Why are you so kind to me, Santana?” she finally asked.

“Santana?” The human woman blinked and then shook her head. “This just confirms that something is very off about you.”

“Stop speaking as if you know everything about me,” Dayana growled. Her tone was low with restrained aggression.

“Oh but I do!” Santana declared, lowering her voice to just above a whisper, “I have watched over you for your entire lifetime.” Her shift her demeanor forced Dayana to listen, which gave her the upper hand. Santana tucked some loose strands of hair behind her ear. “Did you come here to insult me or did you have something to discuss with me?”

Dayana finished her glass in one, long gulp and then sauntered over to pour herself more wine. “Did you ever wonder why I don’t even have eyes, Santana? That maybe, just maybe, I might not be like you or the others?”

Santana followed her, her words remaining calm. “It doesn’t matter where you’re from or what you are. You could be a Twi’lek or even a Trandoshan.” She took Dayana’s hand into a firm, but gentle, hold. “I would still care for you. Perhaps more than you are aware.”

Dayana’s breath hastened as the realization sank into her. “How long? How long did you know? Were you to deceive me forever?”

“Deceive you? Listen to yourself.” Santana bit her lip and the pain seemed genuine. “You are being awfully unfair.”

“Unfair? You think I’m being unfair,” Dayana paused, a bemused grin on her face, “I’m being unfair to you? And what would you label an entire life built upon the premise of a lie? Me, a member of the great Sith Empire, where purebloods and humans rule over the inferior species of the galaxy.”

Santana closed her eyes and shook her head. “I cannot imagine the extent of what you’re feeling, the hurt you’re going through. But know this: I had no say in this.”

Thoughts of their many spars came to mind. Lord Valthren, ordering Santana to beat her younger sister even after Dayana yielded.

And Santana obeyed.

“It’s easy to blame everything on him, isn’t it?” Dayana lifted her glass as a mock toast. “To the great Lord Valthren! He taught his children to never take responsibility for any of their actions.”

“So that would include you then, wouldn’t it?” Santana muttered. After taking a calming breath, she set down her drink and took a seat on the windowsill. “Dayana, listen to me. Our family, and I do mean our family, is powerful. We may not possess the same assets as those who reside in Dromund Kaas or Ziost but the colonies will grow. We will grow. Just take a look at how beautiful our worlds will be.”

Dayana’s fists began to tighten, as much as her frail body could manage. “Look is a very poor choice of words, Santana.”

“Right. I apologize.” Santana turned her eyes, what she was so fortunate to have, back to Dayana. “So. You’re angry. How will it serve you?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Well, when you figure that, then tell me.” Santana shrugged. “I figured you already had a plan if you came to visit. You want to kill father, don’t you?”

Dayana finished the rest of her glass. “That would be a simplistic plan.”

“Not a plan. A goal, and one that I would not necessarily be opposed to. Feelings aside, I believe mother would do much better as the head of our family.”

“Loreen Valthren?” Dayana asked, each syllable drawn out with even more rage than before. “What makes you think she’s any better?”

Santana’s eyes widened. “What are you talking about?”

“She is the one responsible for everything! At least Lord Valthren wanted to just leave me for dead! She’s the one who wanted to use me as a tool, as a slave, for her endeavors!”

“Who told you this rubbish?” Santana seized the wine glass from Dayana’s hands and set it down. “You’ve had too much, sister.”

“It’s not the wine! You can’t just blame everything else, Santana.” Dayana shoulders began to heave as she seethed. “You’re supposed to be on my side!” she pleaded.

“I am on your side. I always have been.”

Dayana seized the other woman’s shoulders with both of her hands. “Then why won’t you listen to me?!” Her words echoed through the hallway until both of them were met only with silence.

It was broken when Santana said, “I am.” She gently placed her fingers on top of the hands on her shoulders. “Vengeance is tempting, though I must ask what purpose it would serve. You would be avenging a people you never knew, giving up a seat of power for the long deceased.”

“This is outrageous, it’s unfair,” Dayana gasped.

“You and I know full well that existence is cruel and uncaring.” Santana started to stroke her adopted sister’s hands and she lowered her eyes. “For so long, I struggled with maintaining the lie, suppressing my desires.”

“Your desires?”

“You have felt them too. I know you have.” Santana brushed her thumb against Dayana’s chin and smiled faintly. “Alone and without another soul knowing. The perfect opportunity to seize what you have been longing for.”

Dayana’s heart raced at a pace that kept even her from maintaining her composure. “And here I believed I was deviant.”

“Still deviant by Imperial standards. No one can witness us, for they will still believe us sisters. But we are privy to the truth and that grants us true power.”