STAR WARS: RETROSPECTION- Brothers

"Tradition.....Anyway, I intend to leave after the funeral, you are right that this world is not for me." -His face twists.

"I only wanted to make sure that everything is as I was told about this death...."

Tradition indeed. With your glorious experiences thus far in the Galactic Empire, you know that tradition is not the way of the future. The Republic was mired in tradition, so stuck in its ways that they could not prevent something so terrible as the Clone Wars. The Emperor has started anew.

"You have been told," Mauren says, sinking back into his throne. He doesn't look at you.

Melkor leaves, not looking back as well.

He walks to his mother`s apartments, looking if any of her servants or courtiers will be nearby.

The heavy doors are closed behind you with a resonating boom.

Other than sleeping quarters- which your mother shared with your father, obviously- your mother was given several rooms for herself, such as an up-to-date library, a greenhouse (the warmest place in the palace), and various other such places.

None of her former servants are about. They have been released from service, or opted to work for the Castellan or Einar.

Melkor shakes his head, shocked that everything is empty now. He stares at the greenhouse for a moment, noticing that the plants already show sings of neglection.

He will try to find a servant that was close to Countess Milena.

You spent a great deal of your youth in this wing of the Palace, accompanying your mother as she tended to her exotic plants from Alderaan and other beautiful worlds...

It is all too eerie that you cannot find anyone in this part of the palace. These halls have been drained of the life that once pulsed through them, the bustling servant girls and your mother's visitors from Alderaan. Bail Organa himself has borrowed books from your mother's library.

It is deafeningly quiet.

"I'm so sorry, Melkor," Janus says, behind you.

"Now this place feels so....dead." -He shakes his head in loss, slowly turning over.

"At least my father seems to be affected. Are you sure that what I was told about her death was truth?" -He looks at Janus intently with the last words.

Janus weighs this.

"It is the official story," Janus says. "It may or may not be true..."

"If it wasn`t true, I couldn`t just leave it like this."

Janus looks up and down the corridors. As before, no-one in sight.

"There are rumors, friend," Janus says. "Dark, terrible rumors. I have heard them and I must say, they are truly vile implications indeed..."

Melkor`s stare seems to pierce Janus.

"Than tell me everything you heard, please. I must know."

Janus begins his terrible tale.

"Your mother has always been a controversial figure since her arrival on Erengard, you know that. The Castellan, the Commander Supreme of Erengard, marrying a pacifistic woman of Alderaan? Unheard of. It has been said that her influence has weakened the Castellan and made him an impotent Grand Warmaster. Her cultural contributions must not go unmentioned, but what do the masses care for culture when they are training for military service? A Countess of Erengard must be the Lieutenant Commander, not a gardener or a reader.

"In recent months, your mother and father have grown farther apart. The nobility is convinced that Mauren's time as Castellan is coming to an end. He has already passed on the leadership of the armies to Einar and given him greater responsibilities in the government. Who is to say that the title of Castellan will not be passed soon?

"But Einar knows what people have thought of your father. Weakness is a sin, as far as he is concerned. The weak perish! Your father's health is slipping, he has lost his respect and presence. Einar is afraid of becoming so disgustingly weak..."

"Typical Einar....he doesn`t understand what the true weakness or strenght is." -Melkor speaks angrilly. -"Culture and subtlety can as useful instruments as armies..."- He pauses for a moment, looking even more distressed.

"I really don`t like where it is heading.... but please continue."

Janus nods.

"Einar is destined for the throne, as Erengardian law dictates. He is the first-born. But that does not mean that he will rule successfully. Gaining the title of Castellan does not mean you are respected and powerful automatically. Your father earned all that he has lost. Einar, thus far, as accumulated little, but he will gain more prestige as he continues... existing.

"But what could stop him from gaining recognition and respect more than being the son of a pacifist?"

"Mauren is not pacifist, this is ridicolous.... pacifist cannot rule Erengard. My father just had a wider perspective than some, mainly thanks to my mother."

"Mauren is far from pacifistic, Melkor. Your mother, on the other hand, has never held a weapon in her life, nor looked at anyone the wrong way. What would people think of a Castellan who had been raised by someone so peaceful and good-natured? The people of Erengard do not have the perspective that you do."

"This is why Einar leads forces into battle so much... but I know what you are implying, say it straight....."

Janus gulps.

"It is rumored that Einar killed your mother, so that her influence would not mar his image."

Melkor is silent for some time, his face very pale.

"I can see the motive..... but Einar follows his outdated "honorable" ways, and to kill your own blood is perhaps the greatest sin... unless he changed as I was away, I don`t think he would do it, but one of his flunkies could....we need evidence, not rumors. I planned to speak with some of my mother`s servants."

"Nothing has been done in the way of detective work," Janus says. "It is forbidden, but...you are not one for tradition, are you?"

Janus looks up and down the hallway again.

"I seem to recall that her servants have all been discharged."