Standard disclaimer as in Part I.

Before they left, Hanshara cleared away the tangle that the bed had become, against the time they might return. She noted with satisfaction that she smelled of him, that she could catch his scent everywhere. Her nostrils flared in appreciation, she was suffused with it. The night had certainly left it's mark, even to the bites on her neck and shoulder, which she touched with pride, flinching a little at the half-healed soreness.

Khameir stood in the doorway and took in the domestic scene with some amusement, smiling his arrogant half-smile she loved so much.

"So, shall I call you 'wife' now?"

She threw the bed coverings at him. "We were busy last night and these need cleaning" she laughed.

"Not busy enough, there is much lost time to make up" he said, as he quickly gathered her in his arms, kissing and nuzzling her neck, then bearing her to the floor.

His hands were everywhere, tugging and undoing expertly at her tunic and breeches as she was at his. They did not wait or engage in soft caresses, she was as ready as he and he thrust himself straight into her eager body. He pulled on her shoulders to drive himself into her as far as he could, making pleasure sounds in the back of his throat. She reached for his mind and their world exploded into fire and light with an intensity never equalled before.

Khameir looked at Hanshara lying beneath him, and with exquisite gentleness caressed her face and lips with the tips of his fingers. A chill went down his back and foreboding again lay darkly in his heart and mind. He kissed her and closing his eyes, he lay his head against hers until the mood passed.

The Interceptor was a short sprint away, so as the speeder ran out of fuel they jumped to the ground, light sabres ablaze, ready to engage the hounds. The dogs circled, looking for a weakness in their defence, waiting for an opportunity. The first jumped and was cut down, as was a second, and then a third. Standing back to back, Khameir and Hanshara fought their way to the ship, slaughtering dogs as they went, feeling their hot stink in their faces, smelling gusts of rancid breath and burnt dog-flesh. The dogs were not sentient, and they were immune to use of the Force to deflect their intent to some other purpose.

Kill as they did, the pack did not seem to grow smaller by much, and the more they killed, the more they were pressed by the remainder of the pack. At the airlock, the dogs were killed more rapidly until few remained. One, bigger and more cunning than its peers, slipped under Hanshara's guard and snatched at her tunic, biting her flesh. Then another joined it, and another, snapping, tearing, cutting. Khameir turned his attention to them and killed them, as well as his own share, but Hanshara lay slumped on the ground, bleeding from the many wounds suffered in such a short time, suffering from the poison carried in their fangs. He screamed and snarled at the remaining dogs and killed them in a frenzy of slaughter. Then, exhausted, he looked with terrible foreboding and sinking heart at his Tai Shan, unconscious and bleeding.

Controlling his reactions, dampening down his fear for her, Khameir focused on their need to escape this planet before the dead hounds were joined by pack-mates. He gathered up the light sabres and picked up Hanshara to carry her to the air-lock, and take her to some sort of safety. His dark tunic was stained red with her blood, she was pale and limp in his arms.

Changing course to Cinthara System, closer than Rapua but still without the help she so desperately needed, he kept her warm and comforted. He gently stroked her face and kissed her mouth, he whispered soft words and told her again how he loved her. He kept the pain at bay, and the dark that pressed in on her.

He then felt the dark gather behind the Force as it came to claim it's own.

"No!" his mind screamed, as he held her to him, trying to protect her from it's insistent clutches as it approached to take her. "No! If you must take her, take me also" he raged. But for all his power, he was unable to push this back, unable to fight it with sabre, will-power, or any other weapon.

Hanshara's last sight was of the Lights of Neguib. The ship was moored at the north pole of Cinthara II, where the most spectacular storms and colours were found. Before she breathed her last, Hanshara turned to Khameir, and put her arm around his neck.

"I would love and watch you my Lord Khameir....for forever and beyond". She stroked his cheek and touched his mouth. "I am the most fortunate of women..." And she died.

He stayed, holding her so close, willing her to come back to him, until he came to realise that she could not. Now he knelt by her body, unwrapped as he looked for the last time at the straight white limbs which had embraced him so many times, and her shapely form. He committed to memory all those things about her that he had found so wonderful, the short cropped hair, the faded battle scars from opponents long since vanquished, the small round breasts which he lightly touched and kissed. He kissed her neck and found a tiny lingering trace of her scent, with red and black fingers he traced the line of her lips, with a black claw, the curve of her brow.

When the body had been washed and wrapped tightly in the kithim, Khameir stood in front of the console and screamed in grief and despair. The pain of wanting her overwhelmed him. The lights meant nothing to him now, there was no light in his life at all. The only thing now with meaning was to track down those who had done this to them, to destroy them, to send them into a more fearsome dark with pain and suffering for companions, not love and tenderness.

Sitting by the body, as Zabrak do with their dead, yet not coming to terms with his loss, he grew a terrible hatred for those whom he would soon destroy. Then putting on a force shield, he picked up Hanshara's body for the last time and took it to the surface of the planet, where he placed it in the ice-cave, her face turned towards the light and her light sabre in her hands. Without a backward glance he boarded the Interceptor and directed it towards Coruscant and his master, where he would take the vows of the Sith and work to destroy Jedi.

During the journey, the gem was placed next to his heart, to be always kept there to fuel the hatred. Khameir never used his talent again, but picked up his light sabre, programmed the practice robot, and honed his skills.

And Palpatine heard the scream, ate the despair, and smiled. Soon.........

With thanks to Isis and Osiris who developed and proved the original concept. If there is not this, what was it all about anyway?

Then Darth Maul felt his hand taken and kissed, and a light brush on the cheek in the Zabrak manner as the pain suddenly ebbed away.

"Beloved Khameir, beloved Lord..." he heard whispered. He struggled to open his eyes and saw Hanshara kneeling by him. He struggled then to speak but she put her fingers on his lips. "Come to me now, my Lord," and she raised him to his knees, then pulled him up so he was standing.

Hanshara smiled at him and touched him, placing her hand on his chest, saying "That I may love and honour you, my heart and mind..." and the scales of insanity fell away, and he realised that his heart was beating its familiar treble beat.

"Body and soul..." she said, touching his body now, and he realised he wanted her so much it hurt, but this was now a welcome pain and there would be an end to it, and his soul sang to see her there.

"My life and breath..." she said, exhaling gently into his nostrils, as he took a deep breath, reached for her, and drew her to him. He put his arms around her and folded her within his cloak as she finally said, resting her head against his chest, "For forever and beyond. There are no boundaries now, Beloved."

He grinned at her with that arrogant half-smile she loved so much, put his cheek next to hers for a while, then bent his head to her neck to inhale her intoxicating scent.

Appendix - Keywords and names.

Cinthara Prime - A planetary system consisting of a type M sun with 5 known planets. Situated in the outer rim of the nebula known to humans as Sirion 6, all the planets are inimical to life due to the intense electro magnetic storms which create impressive, but lethal, displays of light and colour. There are no known life-forms in this system.

Cinthara II - The second planet from the sun named Cinthara Prime, with a very low ambient temperature. Most of the atmosphere has frozen into the most beautiful ice-like landscape of mountains and plains which reflect the electro-magnetic storms and light displays taking place in the planet's ionosphere. There are occasional wind-storms which, over the millennia, have carved out caves in the ice.

Cinthara IV - The fourth planet from Cinthara Prime, which has rings of small ice particles circling the equator, in the manner of Saturn.

Hanshara Sinn-Tau - The human female Jedi who became the Tai Shan of Khameir Sarin.

Iridonia - Home planet of the Zabrak race.

Khameir Sarin - The Zabrak warrior and Aide to Governor Palpatine who finally followed the way of the Sith, taking the name, Darth Maul.

Life bond - A vow to honour and cherish one's life partner. Customary to the Zabrak race.

Mistress Ledora Ikume - The female Jedi Knight charged with the training of Hanshara Sinn-Tau and who unwittingly betrayed her.

Tai Shan - The first and only female lifelong partner taken by a Zabrak, usually determined by the mutual compatibility of pheromones. The words mean 'Life and breath' and also 'Beloved Wife' or 'Beloved Mistress,' both being of equal status as a life bond may be undertaken formally or informally. In the ancient and priestly Zabrak tongue, it also means 'Life and breath,' and is part of the life bonding ceremony. The male has no comparable designation.