#so i imagine her parents tried to protect her from their war and infighting

[acewizardinspace]

Random concept that just came to me but, sith! jedi. Not sith the organization, but the species.

Things were going bad, their people were at war with themselves, so some loving parents hide their child in carbonite so she wouldn't recruited for sith/darksider/war training. Then like a thousand+ years later some jedi archeologists find the carbonite and are like "wow intact artifacts! Wait- oh shit- is she alive???" She is. (The logic on how carbonite let anyone live this long is irreverent, shhhh.)

Now the jedi accept everyone and don't discriminate, so of course they take the youngling in! But there are problems with this too. Like she is the last of her species, what vaccines does she need? What does she eat? They have to dig through old records on sith purebloods to find this information but past jedi apparently didn't see it fit to record stuff like 'is it normal for sith children to lose their teeth or is she dying?'

I imagine she is just old enough to kind of remember her parents, her friends, etc. and has to deal with the fact that they are all gone, and have been for a very long time. She has to deal with the fact that she is the last of her kind. But she has a new family that loves her and helps her mourn and make peace with the past.

The jedi always try to raise their children with pieces of their native culture, but that is kind of hard in her case. A lot of what they know of the original sith culture is uhh not great, and the rest was mostly lost to history. But they try! Historians pour through documents to find stuff they can hare with a small child. "Apparently this style of jacket was popular (we think) so we made one for you!"

[walker-extended-universe]

Long Live Love

Relationship(s): Cordell Walker/Emily Walker, Emily Walker & Geri Broussard

Tags/Warnings: Royalty AU, War, Spoils of War, Captivity, Rescue, Reunions

Summary: After her family is killed and her throne is taken, Emily accepts her fate as a spoil of war. Fortunately for her, her close friends think differently.

Part 2 of Of Love and Honor

@whumpuary prompt filled: Prompt 12- Rescue

Taglist: @theladywyn, @ihavepointysticks, @klaatu51, @itsjessiegirl1, @neptunium134

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Drip

Drip

Drip

The dungeons had never been well maintained. They were taken care of enough to stand and to hold prisoners, but never more than that. They weren’t meant to be places of comfort, after all. It was a prison for the worst of the worst to be held until their executions.

When her family built this castle centuries ago, she doubted any of them imagined their descendants would one day be sitting in these cells.

It was a quiet day. Aside from a patrolling guard, Emily heard no activity as she looked at the empty cell that held her parents a week ago. They had been executed already as a way of properly establishing the new regime. It was a fear tactic to scare any remaining loyal subjects and keep them quiet. It was brutal, but effective, and disturbingly common.

That was the reason she’d sent Cordell away when the castle was first stormed. She knew there was no chance he would make it out alive if he stayed to protect her, so she begged him to go; go out and protect the ones who couldn’t protect themselves. He’d argued, of course. It was his job to protect her, after all. Dying for that would be an honor. But she couldn’t let him throw away his life for something as frivolous as principles.

“Please, just go.”

“Emily, I can’t-”

“You can. You have to. I-I order you to.” She held her head high even as her voice wavered. “Go. Go out there and find the people that will stay loyal, the ones these barbarians will execute first. Find them and protect them. Please.”

He stared at her for a long moment before nodding. “As you wish.”

It had been four weeks since she’d seen him. She could only hope and pray he’d been able to fulfill her last wishes.

—---------

Being shipped away as a spoil of war was almost more insulting than being indefinitely kept in a dungeon. She’s not sure she preferred it to execution, but it’s not as if she had a say in the matter.

All she could do was hold her head high. These barbarians could take her crown and her jewels and her autonomy but they could never take her dignity. Let them leer and jeer; they’ll get what’s coming in the end. If nothing else, she had her faith as she was paraded through what was left of her home.

She didn’t know where she was being taken or who she was being handed off to. Apparently, spoils of war weren’t worthy of being privy to such knowledge. All she knew was she was being placed in a covered carriage and carted away from her home like livestock.

She was alone in the carriage. She couldn’t see outside, but she could hear the caravan around her, loud and rude as they were. She tried to listen in on their talks, maybe get a clue as to their destination, but the noise of the carriage and the horses covered most of it and what little she could hear wasn’t helpful. The idle gossip didn’t give her any inspiration, but it was something to listen to.

Unfortunately, it couldn’t prepare her for what happened next.

It started subtly. Emily heard a rise in the noise outside, but she assumed it was just her escorts getting rowdy again. Then there were sounds of a clash. Perhaps they were just having a little infighting?

Then, she heard an order clear as day. “Stand your ground! Protect the cargo!”

She didn’t even have time to be offended at being called “cagro” before she felt the carriage being upended. She yelped as she tipped over, hitting her back against the wall. She sat up, holding her breath as she listened to the fighting outside.

For a fleeting moment, she considered running away. Surely dying to the brutal forces of nature would be a kinder end than whatever she was heading toward. But, even if she could get out of the carriage, there was no guarantee she’d get far without getting recaptured. And that’s assuming she wouldn’t end up at the mercy of whoever these attackers were. Not that staying in here was any bett-

Her thoughts were interrupted by the carriage door being ripped open over her head. She covered her face to protect herself from the wood shrapnel raining down on her. A pair of hands roughly grabbed her and lifted her from the carriage. “Look what I found!”

She winced in the bright sunlight and looked around. Every member of the caravan had been killed in the fight, leaving only the bandits that attacked them. They were all wearing masks and dark clothing.

This couldn’t be good.

“Sorry for the rough entrance, your highness, but we couldn’t pass up an opportunity like this.” She was roughly dragged toward one of the horses. “Our captain will be eager to meet you.

Emily yelped as she was roughly pulled up onto the lead bandit’s horse with him. As they rode away from the site of the raid, she couldn’t help but feel that she’d been pulled from the frying pan right into the fire.

—-----

The bandits brought her to an encampment deep in the forest. Sunlight just barely peeked through the leaves above them, giving the sense that it was much later in the day. Despite the darkness, the camp was bustling with activity. Men and women alike lived her, with a few children Emily could see. On one side, a man was sharpening weapons. On the other, a small team of women was preparing a meal. Towards the back, she recognized the symbol of a healer.

Whoever this group was, they were very organized. Keeping this many people fed and cared for couldn’t be easy.

She was taken to a tent on the other side of the camp. Her captor took her down from the horse and pushed her through the tent flaps. Inside, a man sat at a desk. His back was to her and she couldn’t see his face, but she could see the calluses on his hands and a few other scars on his arms. She wasn’t sure what to make of him, but she couldn't’ assume he’d show her the same kindness he showed his followers.

Her captor cleared his throat. “Captain, we brought-”

“Leave her here. I’ll deal with it.”

Wait. Emily knew that voice. It had been so long since she heard it, but she knew it.

“Right, but-”

“Leave us,” the captain snapped, turning his head enough for her to see his profile.

No. It couldn’t be.

Her captor left the tent, leaving her alone with Cordell.

As soon as they were alone, Cordell rushed to her, lifting her in a crushing hug. “Thank God you’re alright,” he said. 

He pulled back and moved his hands to cup her face. “Are you hurt? Hungry? I’m sure you must be tired. If you want to rest we can talk la-”

Emily grabbed his face and pulled him down for a kiss.

She didn’t care how she ended up here. She didn’t care how he ended up here. She didn’t care if this was real or just a vivid dream she got the pleasure of experiencing before she crossed over to the afterlife. All she cared about was that Cordell was here, right in front of her, and alive.

Once she’d had her fill, she pulled back, still holding his face. “I-I don’t understand. I-I told you to run and-”

“And protect those most loyal to the crown,” Cordell finished. “I remember. And I did just that. Everyone out there are loyal to you.” He put one hand over hers and turned his face to kiss her palm. “I got them out of the city. Not everyone at once, of course. A few at a time, carefully, with the help of a few trusted friends. We live here and trade with local villages to get by. We’ve had to move a few times, just to be safe, but we’re managing here.”

Emily shook her head. “If it’s that dangerous, you should’ve gone further.”

“Maybe,” Cordell admitted. “But I couldn’t…. I couldn’t leave you. I know you told me to but….” he sighed. “You can’t tell me you honestly believed I would just leave you alone.”

She shook her head. “I know you’re meant to protect me but-”

“That’s not the only reason and you know it.” Cordell gently lifted her chin and ran his thumb across her bottom lip. “I couldn’t leave you. Not completely. It was hard enough to leave you that day. I couldn’t give up hope like that. I’d actually been planning to come get you myself but then we heard rumors that you were being transported and…. Well, things just got a little easier for us.”

She supposed she should’ve expected that. Even before their relationship developed, Cordell took his position very seriously. “Still, that wasn’t very smart of you.”

Cordell smirked. “I know. And we’ll probably have to move tomorrow after all that commotion. But… I think there’s someone else who would like to see you first.”

Before Emily could as, someone else burst into the tent and tackled her into a hug. “Oh, Emily…” Geri sobbed. “Thank God. I thought- I thought-”

“I know.” Emily hugged her friend back, barely holding back tears herself. “I know….”

For the first time since that fateful day, Emily felt she could breathe.