Palpatine stared malevolently at the captive within the room before him, a grim satisfaction pervading his senses. Inside the man was unaware of his surroundings, entirely lost within a world of his own imaginings, reality forever beyond his grasp.

Though far from completion the Death Star was the perfect facility with which to store his prisoner, situated as it was far far away from civilisation, both the dying embers of the Republic, and the burgeoning flames of the Empire. No one would find him here, not even his old apprentice, now firmly under the sway of the dark side of the force.

His former Senator and Queen could look for them for as long as she wished, but she would never find them. Perhaps her attempts would even cost her another loss, that of the children which she so foolishly believed she concealed beneath her heavy gowns, providing him with successors in generations to come.

© Danielle Harwood-Atkinson 2021. All rights reserved.