Hm. It could go either way, then. Well. She'll be ready if he does.

She checks on Deskyl again.

She's asleep, but the disturbance wakes her, and she sits up and looks curiously at the other woman.

Ekkreth looks at her for a long moment.

"One day," she says eventually, "Ekkreth was going along. They saw a construction project, led by one of Depur's overseers, and went among the slaves there and asked, 'What is being constructed?' and the slaves replied, 'Depur has demanded of all his overseers that they create monuments to his glory. This one is creating a new armory, so that all may know the power of Depur and how futile it is to oppose him'. So Ekkreth took the form of one of the slaves, and worked with them on the armory. At night, Ekkreth took some of the scrap metal from the project, that had been discarded, and fashioned a little bird, and let it go. In the morning, Depur saw that there was a metal bird flying about the city, and demanded to know who had done it.

And Ekkreth came before Depur, and bowed low, and said, 'I have done it, my Master.' And Depur said, 'how is it that you have been able to do this thing?' And Ekkreth replied, 'I took a little of the metal from the monuments that are being built to your glory, my Master, and a few hours of the night when it is too dark to see and no work can be done.' And Depur said, 'What else can you create?' and Ekkreth said, 'Oh, my Master! I am only a slave! How could I possibly create anything less frivolous than a little bird with only my own will to guide me, and only a little discarded metal to use?' and Depur said, 'If I command you, too, to build a monument to my glory, and metal and stone to do it with, what can you create?' and Ekkreth said, 'My master, your overseers build you buildings and statues, but give me metal and stone and your will to guide me and I will create for you a whole city such as has never been seen before on the face of the planet.' So Depur made Ekkreth an overseer, and gave them metal and stone to build with.

Every day, Ekkreth would take the stone and metal, and they would instruct the slaves on how to use it to create a building that would be grand and beautiful, that would please Depur. And every night, Ekkreth would take the scrap metal, and they and the slaves would fashion clever devices and put them in the hiding-places that Ekkreth had designed into the buildings.

Eventually, every building in the city was one of the beautiful buildings that Ekkreth had designed. And Depur praised Ekkreth, saying, 'Truly, you have done as you said, and given me a city such as has never before been seen on this planet.' And Ekkreth said, 'No, my Master.' And Depur said, 'No?' And Ekkreth said, 'No, I have not yet done as I have said. I have built a beautiful city, but there have been beautiful cities before.' And Depur said, 'Then how do you intend to fulfill your promise?' And Ekkreth threw down their overseers' clothes, and changed into another shape, and Depur was very angry, and roared, 'Ekkreth! What have you done this time?' and Ekkreth said, 'I am giving you a city such as has never been seen before on this planet.' And when the slaves heard this, they put down their tools and walked away. Depur, enraged, attempted to detonate their transmittors, but the clever jammers that Ekkreth and the slaves had made in the night and hidden in the secret places prevented them from exploding, and every single slave in the city walked away unharmed. And Ekkreth said, 'I am giving you a city without any slaves in it. Such a thing has never been seen before on Tatooine. And Depur called for his guards to come kill Ekkreth for what they had done, but Ekkreth laughed and turned into a bird and flew away.

I tell you this story to save your life."

Deskyl listens, or perhaps just watches, with her focus mainly on the woman's mouth but her eyes flicking occasionally to her hands, or the droid's hands. She doesn't react, especially, when the story ends.

"She can't hear you, Ma'am. But - I don't know - when I first started with her, she could understand sign, most of the time. She hasn't signed to me in months, but I could try, if it's important."

"--Hard to tell if it would help or not. It might, though."

"Yes, Ma'am." She begins signing - it's clearly based on Sith battle sign, but expanded, to take it from a simple system for relaying orders to a proper communicative language.

It takes a minute for Deskyl to notice, and when she does, the droid starts over from the beginning.

Deskyl watches attentively. It's hard to tell how much she might be understanding, but midway through the repetition she shifts to lie back down, and makes a disapproving noise when DZ stops signing.

When the story is done, she lies there thinking about it for a minute, and then abruptly gets up and, after a bit of searching, retrieves a book from the shelves. She thumbs through it, ending with it open to a page with a distinctive bookmark held in the binding, and hands it to the droid.

And DZ recites:

"Stand up, warrior; you are not yet finished.
Beaten you may be, but broken?
Angels have fallen from greater heights
and survived, so why shouldn’t you?
Never mind what you are made of;
you are more than this flesh that binds you.
There is nothing you have to fear
that should not fear you a thousand times more.
Your heart is a galaxy, and your soul is lined in stars.

You are something extraordinary, my dear."

[source]

Ekkreth nods slowly.

"She liked this one. I guess that's obvious. I'm a little surprised she remembered it, though."

(Deskyl, already back under the covers, stretches and curls up and closes her eyes.)

"It's a good one."

"I guess your story helped."

"I'm glad. There's more like it."

"She doesn't have days this good very often, but I can let you know when I notice one, Ma'am."

"If you think it will help. Thank you."

"Thank you, Ma'am."

Little smile. Nod.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Not that I know of. Thank you."

She nods and puts the book back.

Ekkreth continues to show up and tell Ekkreth stories. She does it anytime DZ says Deskyl is in good enough shape, and occasionally on her own initiative.

She's not in good enough shape very frequently; most often once a week, occasionally twice, more often not at all, and it's not unusual for her to drift off partway through a story, or fall asleep immediately after. She doesn't present Ekkreth with any more poetry, but she does smile at her, sometimes.

One day when Ekkreth comes by, she's sitting up in bed working on an embroidery sampler, producing neat white lines on a piece of black scrap cloth.

Ekkreth gives a little half-smile at the colors. "That's pretty," she says, doubting Deskyl will get anything out of the words but maybe the tone will be communicative.