Saga Wife of Deceit: In Love and Truth--The Fall of Lady Palpatine--Winner of Best OC Female

Title: Wife of Deceit
Author: DarthIshtar
Genre: Angst/Romance
Timeframe: 3 months pre-TPM to post-ROTS
Characters: Palpatine, Original Characters
Summary: The story of the woman who was Palpatine's First Lady.

PROLOGUE

It was a peculiarity of procedure that they placed each prisoner before a mirror before what was commonly referred to as ?the exit interview.? She did not know what the origin of the tradition was?perhaps some aggrieved and indignant noblewoman had demanded to go out looking her best?but it made one thing perfectly clear. While every person in this stylized hell had entered the same way and would meet death with the same model of military-issue blaster, they chose their last moments individually upon looking at the skeleton in that mirror.

The exit interview was equal parts fairy tale and horror holo. There were whispers among the condemned that they gave each person a single moment in which redemption was an option. In the midst of the gut-wrenching ?questionings? and the periodic beatings that lasted an indeterminate amount of time before they tired of screams or silence, they would ask a single question that would make all of the difference. One simply had to know how to answer.

In theory, that mirror forced every prisoner to decide if they would respond when they reached that moment. They would look on the sunken eyes, the hollowed cheeks and half-healed fractures and consider what they had done to earn this. They would stare into the hollows of their eye sockets, perhaps press a hand to the spot over their still-beating heart and decide whether or not they wanted to come back from this grave.

She did not know how many exit interviews would be conducted today. Sometimes, they would lose their fellows one at a time and would only notice that the person who met their gaze at roll call had disappeared. At other times, there were entire groups missing and those who remained would wonder whether they would replace those long gone. The alternative was unthinkable, but they all silently recognized the possibility that one day there would be no others to stand between them and death.

As it was, the walk from the cell to the interrogation was as solitary as the prisoners? day-to-day confinement. There were no guards visible in that long corridor, but there did not have to be any. There was no discernible way out and there was no way of knowing if there was something worth living for if they did manage to escape.

At the end of the corridor, a door was opened on silent, old-fashioned hinges by a single guard and she entered the utilitarian ?fresher. The guard closed the door and stood just as silently, for once not making any move to restrain her or command her time. She had already withstood the morning?s chemical bath, so there was nothing to clean. Several grooming implements, such as a straight-edge razor and a hairbrush were provided, but nothing in the way of concealing agents or eyepaints. Perhaps it was too much that in a prison with only seven women, they might consider their minority population.

Once upon a lifetime, she would have had all the energy she needed to summon her vanity or find dignity in what she could do here. It was unlikely that they had anything that could restore her to some form of beauty. Her hair, once a dark coppery red, was instead brittle and dull. Even if she could part her cracked and ulcerated lips to smile, there would be no beauty in her decayed teeth. None of the lotions could cover the raw and peeling parts of her skin. Even her figure was brittle and shrunken, hunched inwards around the distension of her abdomen.

The best she could hope for was to be so silent that the interrogators lost interest quickly. Mercy was an unlikely possibility, but death would be the only cruel and welcome mercy that they knew of.

Instead of seeking comfort in concealment, she stared into the mirror, looking for something familiar there. When she found nothing, she continued to look, wondering if she would look just as haunted at the moment that the app

 

I?m rather excited about this story if you haven?t already guessed- there aren?t too many Palpatine/Another Character ?ship stories around here.

The beginning was haunting, especially with the ?interview? and what all it entailed. Despite it all, you managed to weave in some tidbits about the OC, Amne. I can already tell that I will like her character immensely.

Considering who ?he? is and that she wants to please him, I found this part rather creepy :

?I hope so,? Amne said in like tones. ?I believe he is a good man and do not wish to displease him.?

I?m sorry? I knew Palpatine was the man whose attentions she wanted, but I still got this horrible shiver down my back at the last line! How much older is he than her? *is momentarily sickened* The parallels between her looking in the mirror as a prisoner and as a hopeful young girl was shiver-worthy.

I LOVE this story already! I would devote another three pages to it, but it is getting late.

If you are going to have a PM List for this story, can I be on it?

AnakinsFavorite

 

Now that's one heck of a dichotomy between the parts...

Man, Palpatine on a date. And that young woman... I feel so sad for her already. Such an evil slime.

PMs please, Ish.

 

yeah...this looks good...I want PMS please

 

What a powerful beginning

How far Amne has fallen in 18 years. The poor dear.

If you have a PM list for this, please add me

Looking forward to more

 

AnakinsFavorite--Oh, I hadn't. I personally haven't read any P/OC stories that weren't farces. If you know any, please send them my way. You know my reasons for the opening scene, mostly inspired by parallelism, partially inspired by V for Vendetta, partially inspired by "Night" by Elie Wiesel and his observation of not recognizing the skeleton in the mirror and how it haunted him for the rest of his life. The "exit interview" was an idea that came from a Vader/Sabe scene in Lest Ye Be Judged, where he essentially gives her a chance for redemption and she asks for death. I'm glad you like the character immensely so far or think that you will. That part was intended to be creepy and foreshadowing and all that Ishy angsty goodness. I can't believe I just said that. He is 29 years older than her and more will be said about this matter, both by me and by some unwanted people in the GFFA. She is basically someone who respects her father's wishes under all circumstances, not because she's naive, but because she trusts him. Glad the parallels with the mirror were shiver-worthy. I LOVE that you love this story already. Three pages only? I will have a PM list.

RK_Striker_JK_5--Awww, that's sort of sweet. The dichotomy was very intentional. You know why. LOL, Palpatine on a date is kind of odd. And yes, feel sad for her, but she will have good years. He's not yet an evil slime.

palpyisgod2--You want PMS or PMs? Thanks!

KELIA--Thanks for liking it. She has definitely fallen far. What we'll start to see is how much of it is her fault and what is not. I'll add you. Thanks.

 

As I've written on ff.net before: Great story!

Please add me to you PM list, will you?

---Kyana-Morgaine

 

You might as well add me too!! To the PM list that is!

Palpatine and love story are such polar opposites that I can't wait to see how you craft this story.

 

Ohhh, this was a good start DarthIshtar - I loved your style in the prologue, I got a lucid picture of the prisoner's cracked and broken appearance and her state of mind. The description was great. I loved this paragraph:

That was just chilling.

And I really enjoyed the first chapter, too - there was a real 19th century feel to the upcoming arranged marriage and the way both mother and daughter were resigned to it as an arrangement that would suit both paries. I'm really interested in this OC you've created, and how she interacts with the galaxy's biggest and baddest bad guy. And of course, to see how things come full circle to the prologue

In short, brilliant first post I'd love to get some PM updates for this, if possible

Keep up the great work

 

Kyana-Morgaine--Thanks, Kyana! I will.

Amidala66--I think I'll do calculus with you, instead. Yes, they are possibly polar opposites. I hope this doesn't disappoint.

LLL--Placeholder posts, how lovely. And how dare you make paella without giving me some? Thanks for thinking it intriguing. Yes, she has ended up in a bad way. The question is who will be around when she reaches that point. Okay, next time you shamelessly promote other stories in my thread, I will smite you! Seriously! Thanks for reading, but you can PM all that information. You posted.

Luton_Plunder--Thanks, Luton. I'm glad you loved the prologue. Writing that was one of the greater research challenges I've done in a long time, since I had to figure out what she would be like in that state as well as her psychological profile to be worked in retrograde to 18 years before. I'm glad that paragraph was chilling. The first chapter was supposed to be practically Louisa May Alcott style, mixed with elements of Jane Austen, but with more pre-Empire dialect and according to the verbal stylings of Alderaan. The interaction with Palpatine will be very intriguing just because there are a lot of things that she will not be aware of. Thanks!
*****
Amne had first met Cos Palpatine when she was still young enough to be going through the ?awkward phase? that had lasted much longer than her friends?. He had already made for a name for himself in Republic politics as a negotiator with what one holoshill described as a ?manner so blunt that it might as well be a duracrete wall.? Her father, a Naboo by birth, an Alderaanian by choice and a nomadic merchant by trade, had taken a liking to the man who was unafraid to bluntly get the right thing done.

For her part, Amne had been somewhat in awe of the man. In spite of the fact that he was nearly thirty years her senior, he was nonetheless a captivating and accessible man who treated all of those in her household with respect. It was not to say that he dealt with Vali other than to endure her perpetually sticky fingers and to avoid stepping on her, but unlike many of Father?s guests, he was kind to her.

What struck Amne most about Palpatine was that he was one of the first adults to treat her as an equal from the start. She had been barely fifteen and stammered over the discussion of her government classes at the Academy, but he had patiently and attentively listened to every word that she said. Unlike her father, who was somewhat exasperated by his daughter?s timid nature around strangers, the Senator did not interrupt her or dismiss her observations out of hand.

By the end of the night, her nervousness had evaporated and the awe had remained. Perhaps it had been an adolescent fascination at first, but it had remained with her until the next time that Palpatine visited on her sixteenth birthday.
He was one of the few men who had taken notice of her before her mandatory transformation from merchant?s daughter to ambassador?s heir. Unlike the other men, he treated her no differently than before she had become minor nobility. It was not because he had no respect for her now, but because he had always treated her with respect regardless of her station in life.

Tonight, she could not have been less like the young girl he had met seven years ago. She had first met him after clambering down the stairs in grass-stained slacks and a carelessly baggy tunic, her hair pulled back severely from her face simply because she did not want to be bothered by it. She had been thin enough, not because she worked at it but because she usually forgot any meal other than dinner. Even then, she would usually spend token time eating a few things and then return as quickly as possible to her room and her readerchips. By contrast, he was the seemingly aloof politician who came to dinner in formal robes and looked as though he had forgotten the word of the meaning humor.

Their friendship had become less formal when she had been accepted to the University of the Republic, situated a short di

 

Wow. I love the little details, here. Like 'Bucky and the Starboys'. And Cos! Awesome use of that name, Ish! Man, this is a great post. Palps here isn't slimy. And the Trade Federation... not good.

Can't wait for more!

 

as angsty as I can forsee this becoming, the idea of Palpy's first name being "Cos" brings to mind Cos lettuce...oh dear

 

Great update!

I love your love for details as well, especially the ones about the peoples backgrounds. Please update soon; I look forward to it!

 

WOW - what a contrast between the charming Palpatine courting Amne and the manipulating Palpatine we know and love from the movies...or is there?

He certainly knew how to get into her parent's good graces. Not too many parents would be happy to see their child dating someone 30 years their senior.

Great update

 

?My father told me something once,? he explained. ?It was when I had just been made a Senatorial aide and was about to begin a long life of association with the extremely powerful. He said, ?Court the noble in spirit as you would a beautiful woman for you may someday want them to lead you. Court a beautiful woman as you would a noble spirit, because more often than not she will be one and you will one day want her to guide your children.??

How beautifully spoken!

Scenes like this one break your heart because if Palpatine really had been the kind of person that he put up to everyone that he was, what a different GFFA it would have been!


?When I was a younger man, I knew one beautiful, noble spirit,? he stated. ?Cyrah never acknowledged her own nobility or just how strong she was, but it was self-evident. I lost her after far too short a time and it seemed to me that I would never know another like her.?

He swallowed hard in acknowledgment of the emotion, but was silent for a long moment more. At last, he reached a hand across to clasp hers. She was surprised to find that both their hands were trembling.

Ahh ... but is this for real or not?? And, more to the point, what does a power-hungry Sith Master want with a 22-year-old Ambassador's daughter (besides the obvious)?

Whatever he wants, Palpy wants it badly enough to put on quite a show.

If this is actually genuine, then this is going to be quite a story. It's going to be quite a story anyway, but especially if Palpatine isn't acting here.
__________________________________________

Edit: Unsolicited crit deleted per board rules.

 

Great update Ish!!!

 

It is certainly interesting to see Palpatine in a ?human? light. Us readers/fans have primarily seen him as the one-sided politician and then as the ultimate evil- most of us never really give any consideration to the fact that there must have been a time when he was just a normal person doing normal things. So, with that in mind, it is curious to read about him wooing the main character, treating her as his equal- all actions that seem foreign to a man so evil.

Just thinking ahead to times such as the Anakin-Mace-Palapatine conflict give me shivers and get all excited for what that shall surely be like from her perspective.

Although I?m not sure that you intended for it to be this way, but I like the way that she will balance out the man he will eventually become.

Obviously, they are going to encounter some difficulties on the way to the altar, and I can?t wait to see what scandals await them!

Hurry with the post- I need my Palpy fix!

AnakinsFavorite

 

Ohh sorry this is so late, Ish!

I really enjoyed the Amne/Palpatine interaction And I know it's already been quoted, but this quote was my absolute favourite part of the update:

See, this is why Palpatine slipped by everyone. He made them go all gooey with his fancy words! You've really done a good job of making him seem like a perfectly acceptable, and if not desirable then preferable, man to have been arranged into a marriage with. However informal that arrangement may be. Knowing just what he's up to behind the scenes makes him come across every bit the galaxy's biggest sociopath.

Excellent work Looking forward to more!

 

Three months before the proposal, Amne had graduated from the University with a fairly clear idea of what course her life would take- she was to teach on a more permanent basis at the secondary school where she had been a student teacher.

She had anticipated that she would arrive on Coruscant two weeks before the new term started in order to hastily pack her personal belongings into crates and ferry them to the staff dormitories. Certainly, she would have plenty of time to catch up with old friends and finish preparing her curriculum for her first year as a teacher.

She had not anticipated becoming a high-profile bride-to-be. Within two hours of Cos? departure, a holoshill, who had been at the much talked about concert, had found a holo of her ring and had preemptively announced her engagement to one of the Republic?s most controversial politicians. Fortunately, since Crevasse City was still experiencing winter storms, nearly all of the holoshills had to wait for her to come to them and were thus rather behind on the gossip.

By the time the latest blizzard howled its way out of the canyon, an alternate plan had been put in place. As a result, she arrived on Coruscant a week early and was given quarters in the Nubian Consulate.

She rather disliked the arrangement, not because she discovered that the suite of rooms that she had been given could have accommodated both hers and Valeria?s rooms, nor because they were halfway across the expansive Consulate from her fiancé. Instead, what vexed her was the fact that all of her personal effects had been moved by the Consulate staff, who deemed it ?unseemly for their Senator?s fiancée to do any heavy lifting. They had remedied that situation before she arrived in the capital city and she had immediately felt a severe pang of guilt at having not done any of the moving herself.

?I trust these accommodations are large enough??

Amne turned to find Cos standing in the doorway, an unusually self-satisfied look on his face.

Undoubtedly, that meant that this sudden change in affairs had been largely his doing, but this revelation hardly surprised the young woman.
?I hope you are intending to give me a staff,? she said flatly.

?Indeed?? he asked, crossing the room to kiss her lightly in greeting. ?Why is that??

?Because that would explain the amount of space that you expect me to occupy,? Amne said in a tone that was part teasing and part embarrassment.
He tilted his chin in a way that suggested it was a more elegant form of a shrug. ?It was available,? he explained, ?and it was fitting. Does it please you??

Her new quarters inspired many feelings within her, but pleasure was not one of them- overwhelming was more accurate. Instead of voicing her thoughts, she instead said diplomatically, ?They?re beautiful.?

Finally, his smile turned humorous. ?They should be,? he conceded. ?When the Queen or King comes to visit Coruscant, these are the quarters that he or she typically occupies. Fortunately, the monarch typically comes only when a Senator is inducted or a galactic crisis occurs.?

His tone was bemused, as if she should have known better than to think that he would not give her the monarchial suite for her temporary quarters. Perhaps this was the sort of hierarchical arrogance to which she should become accustomed, but ath the moment, it was frankly mortifying.

?Ah,? Amne said faintly. ?That explains a great deal.?

She took his hand, showing some arrogance of her own in making the first move, and guided him further into the suite before coming to stop by the large picture window. ?Am I correct in presuming that you did not come here to merely view and comment upon my new apartment??

?You are correct,? he confirmed. ?I came to advise you that the Consulate would like to hold something of an official engagement party as they were deprived of the honor of having the proposal occur here.?

?Ah?wounded pride,? she scoffed. ?I have not even visited your world yet and already, I have risked offending its people.?

?It is

 

Well, moving along quite nicely. Loved the little bit about the 'baby bump' and the holoshills, LOL. Just like RL there.

Delani, an OC? If so, another fully-realized character already. Her and Amne were good together.

 

Great update!

So, the speculation about starting a family (pregnancy as cause for marriage) in the press has already begun?
Can't wait to read more! Please update soon!

 

Well, despite the fact that I seemed to tear it to shreds while beta?ing, I really liked this post

I really like how this is progressing? and I cannot wait until the engagement party. Will scandals and rumors follow them there? How long will Amne be able to remain strong when people are saying such bad things about her?

I like her friend, Delani, I guess because she reminds me a little of? me. Opinionated but loyal She is exactly the sort of friend Amne needs here, and I hope that she will stick around as the story progresses, especially when/if things turn rather sour.

I wonder how Amne is going to balance being a teacher? and a high profile politician?s wife. I hope she can handle it and doesn?t sacrifice her career to end up empty-handed.

Anywho, I really like this story- it?s so exciting and new (plus, it gives me my previously-unheard of Palpy fix!)

AnakinsFavorite

 

It didn't talke Palpatine very long to show his controlling ways, did it? Though it was considerate of him to make sure Amne had suitable quarters.

I loved Amne and Delani shopping for the perfect dress. What a wonderful, supportive friend Delani is.

Great update

 

I should have started commenting on this new story of yours, Ish, but was too interested to see what you were going to make of the subject. A while ago, I wondered about any good stories on Palpatine's personal life in the Palpatine thread of the Fan Fiction Resource forum.

The start was what I expected. Poor Amne. Presumably things more or less end up the way we see them in ROTS.

As others have already remarked, it's great that she has a good friend in Delani:

?I don?t get you, Amne,? Delani Suhala confessed. ?You left two and a half months ago for a vacation, and you came back engaged to a Senator.?
It was the fourth dress shop that they had gone to in the same day and fortunately, Amne?s best friend had refrained from this kind of commentary until now. It was not to say that she had not delivered a few unhappy comments about not being the first to know, but her self-restraint had been appreciated?up until now.

The stuff in the tabloids wondering if she was pregnant, and that being the reason why Palpatine was marrying her, was sadly predictable. On the bright side, I suppose Palpatine
painfully dealt with those journalists once he became Emperor.

An obvious question arises out of all this: Will there be any children? If there is at least one child, preferably a son, that would certainly be of political benefit to Palpatine, both as Chancellor and later as Emperor. Of course, such a child could end up joining a future rebellion against his father.