Two

Chapter 18

Coruscant was nothing like she had imagined. The entire planet was one giant city with tall buildings that reached up into the sky. It was like nothing she had ever seen before, it wasn’t even close to the cities on Ryloth.

Maul handed her some credit chips once his ship had landed in one of many places that were available to land.
“I will be meeting someone, it shouldn’t take long,” Maul said as he left the ship. Nima followed him. “When you are finished with whatever you are going to do, head to the Jade Canteen, it’s a restaurant of a sort. You’ll find it easily enough.”
“Alright,” Nima said as she nodded.
“Don’t get into any trouble.”
“I shouldn’t get into any trouble,” said Nima with a smile.

Her smile faded as she remembered bounty hunters and suddenly, she wished she could go with Maul to the meeting. But he was already walking away, with his hood pulled up, and had almost completely blended into the shadows of the city.

Searching the city, Nima found various shops. Clothes stores, restaurants, spice stores and parts stores for droids. Exploring some of the clothes stores, Nima picked out some clothes so that she had a few more outfits to wear. She found more spices to add to her collection, with some cooking tips from the man who had sold them to her in the tiny shop she bought them from.

When she was a little hungry, she brought some snacks from a cafe-like place, decorated with bright colours despite how grey and industrial the outside world was. She wandered around, buying a trinket of a ship made from junk from a store and then decided to head to the Jade Canteen.

Walking in, the loud music and chatter hit her ears. Even the shops hadn’t been this busy and loud. Spotting a hooded figure in black in the corner, Nima headed over and sat down next to him at the booth, placing her bag by her feet.

“Don’t use my name,” was the first thing Maul said. Confused, Nima nodded. Perhaps there were people spying on them, or he didn’t want people to know who he was in case there were people after him.
“Alright,” she said quietly. “Your meeting?”
“Later,” was his short response. “We should go.” Nima nodded. She wanted to know a little more about what he had been doing and he had said ‘later’ which meant he was willing to say something. Maul stood and so did she, suddenly missing the luxury of sitting down since she had been walking around far more than she was used to.

It didn’t take long to reach Maul’s ship. As soon as they walked in and no one could look in, he lowered his hood. He moved to deal with the navigation, taking off and setting a course for the planet they stayed on. Nima took a seat and stayed quiet, so she didn’t disturb him.

He returned a while later to find Nima staring blankly out of the viewport.
“The meeting, you wanted to know about it.” Nima left her thoughts behind as she looked at him and nodded. “I was meeting with my master.”
“Your master?” she repeated, her brows furrowing. But he was Sith, wasn’t he? “You’re a slave?” If he was, would he get in trouble for helping her and staying on the planet with her?
“My Sith Master, I am but an apprentice. I am not a slave.”

Nima stared at him, trying to process what he had said. He was the Sith apprentice, so somewhere in the galaxy, most likely on or near Coruscant, was someone with more power and skill than Maul. It was admittedly difficult to comprehend. The power she was used to was not in terms of the Force, but in politics and money and control. The Sith Master was likely to have both, and was probably good at hiding so no one knew he was Sith.

Despite the imagined power of the Sith Master, Nima thought of Maul. He was an apprentice, but it seemed more like a glorified slave. He had never mentioned getting paid, he never got happy or even less grumpy and annoyed when he got money like her mother used to. He simply had to follow orders and train. She supposed the training made it more apprenticeship-like but…

“Do you get paid?”
“No,” he said. “Not in a sense. I am rewarded with knowledge of the Sith and my life.” She frowned and he looked confused.
“I was told I got the reward of living another day when I was a slave,” she said quietly. “And I think that’s what you are. A slave. You just do as your told and avoid upsetting your master. That’s why you couldn’t have me with you, wasn’t it?” Maul’s silence was just confirming what she thought.
“I am not a slave,” he said firmly, with some anger behind his voice.
“Changing the name doesn’t change the truth,” she said. Maul turned, his cloak flaring behind him. Sighing, Nima turned and stared out of the window again. He would have to accept the truth by himself.