Chapter Text
After Mando had made peace with my dogs there seemed to be a shift in our dynamic. She felt less angry toward him... or maybe that was because she could get a full night of sleep instead of waking up when the dogs decided Mando was doing something which deserved death.
Like right now she even got to sleep on her couch the whole night. She had accidentally fallen asleep on it. Both Rakki and Kamu were sleeping on top of her and their familiar weight almost lulled her back to the feather islands.
But the lights were on and she made the mistake of looking at the clock. It read ten past nine. She had overslept.
She lunged up, Rakki flying off from my chest like a NATO missile. With a muffled oof, she hit the ground. She heard a mug dropping in the kitchen and heavy footsteps thundering in the living room.
Kamu who hadn't even risen his head now rose with bark to warn Mando that he will bite when he skidded into the room.
He brandished a butter knife as his weapon and generally looked around in a very confused manner. Maybe he had woken up late too? She opened her phone quickly ready to call her boss when She saw the weekday.
"On Lauantai." (Is Saturday) She sinks back to her sofa cushions.
"What happened?" Mando rasped and relaxed from his fighting stance.
"Nothing happened. I just woke up and noted it was Saturday."
"Saturday?"
Oh yeah, Mando doesn't know what seven day week is.
"The sixth of the seven-day week we have going on." He nodded, but she couldn't hold herself back from snarking at him "In what culture you don't have a week on it?"
"We Mandalorians do have a week, but it doesn't have seven days." Mando got offended and she was confused.
"Wait. Your race is Mandalorian, not your name?"
"Seriously?"
"Yes, I thought it was your name." He tilted that stupid bucked of his, and she pushed Kamu off her legs.
"You seriously let me call you by the name of your race for all this time?" She huffed and rose.
"Yes. Something wrong with that?"
"Yes." she huffed and turned away and started looking where my laptop had ended up "It is like naming Asian Asia or African descent Black."
He looked even more confused. It confused her even more that she could read the man so well. "Not a good thing. What's your name real name?"
A silent pause and Rakki shoved his head under her arm.
"All right then. It's again the religion?"
another pause and she turned towards him. How I hated religious people.
"If you aren't going to tell me your name, I am going to invent you one." She fixed him a hard stare and tried to come up with a name for him.
She had always been shitty when naming things even If she had an obsession with doing that. She would come up with good names, but not remember them, so she usually named them after describing them like Kamu who was her friend, or Rakki who wouldn't stop barking when she got in that state of mind.
Heck even her cabbing, car, and snowmobile had names that described them. Kivikulma(Rock side) the fishing hut that stood on a big rock. Murisia (growler) her car that always rumbled and her snowmobile Puna(Red) which happened to be red.
Wait he is blue... Well, now I got it.
"You shall be known as Sini from now on. Do you understand?"
"What?" He repeated like he didn't get that I re-named him.
"Well Sini, I think we have a conversation to be talked about," I informed him turning my attention away from what just happened.
"Huh?"
"I looked at the parts you need and I got bad news for you."
Paz grimaced internally at his stubbornness. The monarch had made a friendlies move towards him and he had been so surprised that he flung back to his normal defense of aggression.
Paz Viszla wasn't a diplomat and it showed. He was lost at his words and made a fool of himself. He knew he needed to defuse this situation, but with them both being tensed like strings of a bow he knew it wouldn't happen.
He took a step back to have space between them in case a fight would break out.
Monarch didn't close the distance. "Karelia isn't a planet it is a territory on a planet. Karelia used to belong to my peoples' territory, but it was lost to the other territory in war." There was a bitter edge in her tongue.
Clan wars? Paz thought but didn't dare to ask. Monarch seemed to be non-violent mood and he wasn't going to risk it to chance. Sadly for Paz Monarch had a chance of hearts and instead of getting lost in the past decided to stay in the present.
But like really strangely.
"Enought about unfortunately things like a past war. We need to focus in the presense. My servants told me your friends were healing well. I asume you will be leaving soon?"
Even though she wasn't outwardly hostile her question seemed like a threat or she was asking for a favor. Paz hoped it wasn't that for a real Mandalorian wouldn't corner her people like that.
"Once we are healed enough well leave or if we can contact others in my covert." Paz didn't even stop to think what he was about to say before that came out and according to his earlier experience whit Monarch, not thinking what you said to her was a mistake.
"So let me get this straight. You first come here running from an empire that doesn't exist. I shelter you and treat you. and you will call more of you to come here? Did you notice that this has begun to seem like a beginning of coup d'etat?" Monarch seemed to get enraged, by even a mention of more Mandalorians.
Paz was a warrior, he knew better than to start a fight whit a planet's ruler. But the fact that she was Mandalorian in power. A ruler. Someone who didn't need to hide. Her sigil was presented proudly and she didn't seem to be worried about any challenges to her.... Reing.
But...
She was a Mandalorian monarch... Her people looked up to the Mandalorians in general...
She took him as a challenger.
and despite Paz getting the honor of being the one she took so highly, he couldn't feel anything honorary about it. Not when she seemed to despise his people so openly.
"We are not trying to take advantage of your generosity." Paz tried to calmly explain but failed miserably as his natural want to scream and have a fistfight over it bled through.
"Then what are you doing?" Her blue helm was almost against his as she closed the distance between them. He could see his reflection on her visor in the dim lights of the hallway. Paz could see an orange butterfly whit a shredded wing clinging to her cape's collar.
I couldn't stop myself from using one of my favorite intimidation tactics on him. aka getting on people's faces. Sadly I seemed to have forgotten how big the person whose face I was getting on to was.
The back of my neck was pressing on the back plate of his armor as I looked up at the Mandalorian.
He didn't answer my question. The creaking of the leather and the crackle of heavy breathing through the vocoder filled our world for a moment.
I should have felt some sort of fear towards him. I was well aware of if this scene turned into one where blood was dug from another's nose I knew myself being the ragdoll in that situation. Still, I did not feel any fear as I tantalized him further.
"Monarch. Your guests are here, Sir." A familiar voice of one of the palace guards came behind me.
I slowly turned around to notice pair of guards standing in attention at the end of the hallway.
"Truly?" I awoke. I hadn't even noticed how the time had gone. It felt like only five minutes prior I had decided to take a break from my work and venture to take care of my dogs, his ship, and the rest of the armors.
Wich were stored behind this door...
"It seems our other quest has gotten lost. I would like him to be escorted back to his quarters." I felt confused but kept my voice steady as I dismissed him.
I motioned for the guard painted whit more black to be escorted to him. The one painted like Kamu followed after me. He was one of my first followers and he wasn't afraid to inquire after my welfare.
"Are you okay?" His thin voice asked as he shadowed me up toward my butterfly room.
"Another one of those days." I plucked an injured butterfly from the collar of my cape.
"You know. I think you should move on." He tried gently.
"And I keep waiting." I cradled the butterfly in my hand and let my pity be directed to it.
"It's been ten cycles already." We stopped in front of a door.
"Remember the saying from my home?" I asked while setting the butterfly on a young milkweed plant that one of the servants was moving near the door to take to the room when I had dealt whit my business there.
"No body, No proof?" He aspected quietly.
"No body, No death." I straightened my back and took hold of myself. I needed to lead now.
The pair of heavy metal doors opened whit a groan. Rising a wave of burning orange from every surface of my side of the hall. Wood scraped against the floor as the occupants of the room hurried up to stand before me.
"Monarch!"
"Your Highness!"
"Sir."
They welcomed me as I strode through the living red sea.
"I don't have time today for pleasantness. So cut to the chase and tell why have you invited yourself to my palace in the mid harvest?" I demanded without missing a beat and sat down in my chair on the end of the table that was brought in the middle of my hall.