Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
━━┓'𝐜𝐲𝐠𝐧𝐮𝐬' ┏━━
━━ ★ ━━
...THEED, NABOO
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑 𝐒𝐋𝐈𝐃 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍.
Cora's head snapped up and she expected to see the same disappointed face of another RSF guard, but instead she was met by the sight of her older brother Tamis.
Relief canceled out all annoyance. "Oh gods," Cora said. "You're back."
Tamis lifted a hand to excuse the guard, who promptly rushed off. Dressed in the royal blue of his Fighter Corps uniform, Tamis took a seat on the gray bench next to her.
"You're soaked."
"It was raining," Cora groused, wiping the grit of dried mud off her chin.
"They aren't pressing charges, I explained the situation and they dropped them almost immediately."
"That's good, I suppose," she told him quietly. "When did you get here?"
"The RSF office sent word to my commanding officer a few hours ago. I came as soon as I could."
"They said they needed someone to identify the body," Cora said, voice barely a whisper. "They all know who dad is, why would they need an identification?"
Tamis swallowed, a shudder passing through him. "They took him to the hospital downtown, thinking there was something that could be done. There was bruising, it was a traumatic death. I'll spare you the details, but there was a reason they needed to be sure."
Cora let the silence fall between them. The cell door still sat open.
"What are we going to do, Tamis?"
"I don't know," he told her honestly. His arm wrapped around her and she lay her head on his chest and began to cry.
For the rest of her life, Cora knew she would regret not being more involved in the funeral. It all surged up and around her as if she were stuck to the bottom of a well. Tamis took control of the affairs and made sure everything was in order, Lyranna turned her grief into productivity, as was her way. Cora did what she was told, but hardly a thought passed through the blur that was her mind.
She had been asked to deliver a eulogy for the funeral, but all words had died in her throat as soon as she got up to the podium. More people were in the crowd than any of them imagined; so many of Orpheus's old political colleagues had arrived on Naboo that morning to pay their respect. And they were all watching her with such pity, Cora couldn't even read the few lines she had written out. Tamis had been forced to scoot her out of the way and deliver the eulogy himself.
