Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me.
He said it over and over... when he would stop for anything except for drinking or eating, she would make him put the needles into his own flesh... he hated doing that. If he did it right, it hurt. If he did it wrong, it hurt a lot worse, and he had to re-do it. And the whole time, he'd have to say it. It was comforting, in a way... it helped him take his mind off the pain. He didn't understand the words, but he couldn't ask, because he was just supposed to say the poem.
He was still saying it when Lady Sera brought him to another room. It had a table, too, but it was a bigger table. On that table lay his mother, one eye missing, though the wound had been cleaned and treated. She was quiet until she saw him with her good eye... then she went hysterical, crying and screaming at him, begging Lady Sera to let him go.
The boy just said the poem.
His mother screamed, and Lady Sera had him stand at the head of the table where his mother's head was. She placed his hands over her forehead, telling him to hold her head down so she didn't accidentally bang it against the table. He held her head still, still reciting the poem.
Lady Sera began to slice through some of his mother's skin.
His mother's head was hard to hold down. Once, some of the restraints slipped, and his mother bolted upright in pain, hitting the bottom of his jaw with her head. He had been reciting the poem. His teeth bit through his tongue. Lady Sera was very angry, and his mother was slammed back onto the table by her power, the restraints being put back on her. In an instant, Lady Sera was by his side, commanding him to open his mouth, which he did.
Blood poured out into her hand, along with half of his tongue, and a few of his teeth.
A man had walked into the room, then... the boy wasn't sure if he had been called. He used a device to clamp down on what was left of his tongue, which made him drool blood everywhere, but made most of the bleeding stop. He placed a patch on the stub, removed the clamp, and, after speaking a moment to Lady Sera, left.
Lady Sera scowled at his mother. "Do you see what you did? To your own son? Why? Why would you do such a thing?" she asked the woman.
His mother sobbed. "I'm sorry. Oh, my baby, I'm so sorry... please, let him go, I'll do anything!"
Lady Sera sighed. "Where would he go, hmm? Any Force-sensitive who isn't in the employ of Lord Xarkun is executed. Do you want your son to die? I'm not surprised... you kept him hidden from the Emperor, made him think he was weak all those years... and now, you want to keep him from learning how to use his power. And you call yourself his mother..." she said, and gestured for the boy to take his place once again at his mother's head.
This time he held her head down much, much harder. He recited the poem in his head as he watched as Lady Sera explained everything she did, as she slowly cut his mother to pieces.
Next Chapter?
Imperial Palace, Chapter 8
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