My hand was the one you reached for
All throughout the great war

˚　　　　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　　　 . ✦　　　 　˚　　　　 . ★⋆.
　　　.   　　˚　　 　　*　　 　　✦　　　.　　.　　　✦　˚ 　　　　 ˚　.˚　　　　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　　 　　 　　　　 ✦

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

Hope is like the sun.

If you only believe in it when you see it, you'll never make it through the night.

✴︎

Hope beats in the heart of Elayne Antares. It is in her nature, in her very blood — she is the queen of naboo and protector of peace, and everything good and soft. Held up high and trusted by her people, her name travels as far as to the senate, and even on outlying planets like Tatooine they whisper of the righteous queen of naboo.

Righteous. Kindhearted. Wise. The ideal queen.

But appearances are merely a deception.

For behind the mask of Queen Antares lurks a righteous leader of the rebellion. Every vein, every atom in Elayne's body pulses with a longing for justice, a burning desire for peace for the sunless souls scattered across the galaxy. She sees the terrified faces of little kids, the weeping eyes of mothers and fathers and she sees worlds torn apart by war.

She sees the cruelty of the emperor.

And even if it is the last thing she shall do, she will make him fall.

Hope is a brittle spark within Cassian Andor. He's been in the fight for as long as he can remember, his hatred for the empire growing and growing and growing like a wildfire in a forest. He clings to the light every day he trips further into darkness, every time he has to bury another friend and every time he kills another enemy.

His past is a graveyard. Littered with stones and unburied corpses that sometimes haunt him when he closes his eyes.

His lives an ugly life, a life not worth remembering — smuggling from the empire and doing other dirty jobs. He knows he's scum. He knows why strangers deem him to be heartless.

Now the hatred for the empire burns a little less inside him, but just like hope, it is a spark that never goes out.

He doubted there was something in his power greater than stealing that would make a difference. Especially for someone like him.

Until he discovered there was. Until he discovered something that was worth fighting for against the empire.

Death follows especially those who dare to love. Elayne has always been the type of person to leap faithfully, but can you even win if all you seek is peace in a lifetime of war?

(There are no winners in war.)

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀.　　　　　　　　　　⠀⠀⠀✦ ⠀ ⠀　　　　　　　　　　　　　　⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀* ⠀⠀⠀.　　　　　　　　　　. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀✦⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀.　　　　　　　　　　　　　.　　　ﾟ .　　　　　　　　　　　　　. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　✦ 　　　　　,　　　　　　　.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
　　　　　　*　　　　　　　　　　　.
.　　　　　　　　　　　　　. 　　✦⠀　   　　　,　　　　　　　　　*
　　　　　⠀　　　　⠀　　,
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀.　　　　　 　　⠀　　　⠀.　
　　˚　　　⠀　⠀  　　,　　　　　　.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　.
　　　　　　*⠀　　⠀  　　　　　⠀✦⠀　
　　　　　　*　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　.
　　　　.　　　　.　　　⠀
　　　　　　　　　　　.
　　　　　　　
　　　˚　　　　　　　　ﾟ　　　　　.
　.⠀　　⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀,
　　　*　　⠀.
　　　　　.　　　　　　　　　　⠀✦
　˚　　　　　　　　　　　　　　*
.⠀ 　　　　　　　　　　.　　　　　　　　.
　　　　　✦⠀　   　　　,　　    　　　　　　　　.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀.　　　　　　　　　　⠀⠀⠀✦ ⠀ ⠀　　　　　　　　　　　　　　⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀* ⠀⠀⠀.　　　　　　　　　　. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀✦⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀.　　　　　　　　　　　　　.　　　ﾟ .　　　　　　　　　　　　　. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　✦ 　　　　　,　　　　　　　.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
　　　　　　*　　　　　　　　　　　.
.　　　　　　　　　　　　　. 　　✦⠀　   　　　,　　　　　　　　　*
　　　　　⠀　　　　⠀　　,
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀.　　　　　 　　⠀　　　⠀.　
　　˚　　　⠀　⠀  　　,　　　　　　.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　.
　　　　　　*⠀　　⠀  　　　　　⠀✦⠀　
　　　　　　*　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　.
　　　　.　　　　.　　　
　　　　　　　　　　　.
　　　　　　　
　　　˚　　　　　　　　ﾟ　　　　　.
　.⠀　⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀,
　　　　　✦⠀　   　　　,

Amita Suman as
Elayne Citala / QUEEN ANTARES

QUEEN OF NABOO / HOPE / PEACEMAKER

❝ it is never okay to be cruel ❞

Diego Luna as
Kassa / CASSIAN ANDOR

REBEL / HEARTLESS / FORGOTTEN HERO

❝ rebellions are built on hope ❞

THE HANDMAIDENS

Adelaide Kane as Heleyne
Lily James as Maleyne
Bruna Marquezine as Ruleyne
Emilia Clarke as Saleyne
Simone Ashley as Kaleyne

❝ for those I love, I will sacrifice ❞

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀.　　　　　　　　　　⠀⠀⠀✦ ⠀ ⠀　　　　　　　　　　　　　　⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀* ⠀⠀⠀.　　　　　　　　　　. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀✦⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀.　　　　　　　　　　　　　.　　　ﾟ .　　　　　　　　　　　　　. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　✦ 　　　　　,　　　　　　　.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
　　　　　　*　　　　　　　　　　　.
.　　　　　　　　　　　　　. 　　✦⠀　   　　　,　　　　　　　　　*
　　　　　⠀　　　　⠀　　,
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀.　　　　　 　　⠀　　　⠀.　
　　˚　　　⠀　⠀  　　,　　　　　　.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　.
　　　　　　*⠀　　⠀  　　　　　⠀✦⠀

You gave me peace in a lifetime of war.

ELAYNE & CASSIAN.

DISCLAIMER !

I do not own Star Wars, all rights reserved George Lucas, Lucasfilms and Disney. I do own my original characters, places and all the other elements that deviate from canon. Also, I've spent a lot of time coming up with these characters and they mean a lot to me, so don't steal them.

WARNING !

This book contains mature themes such as violence, death, mentions of mental illness, sexual scenes, explicit language and underage drinking and drug usage. If any of these trigger you please proceed with caution 🤍 your mental health comes first, always xx

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ DEDICATION ! ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

to these lovely people
courscants  ⊹ saturnsokas  ⊹ loveysgarden  ⊹
stabileseitenlage112  ⊹ -undomiels ⊹
binarysun ⊹ crystallous  ⊹ evenstcr

and to everyone who's read this far. 🤍

⟡ AUTHORS NOTE ! ⟡

✴︎ welcome to HEARTLESS!

✴︎ ahhh i'm so happy to share this work with you! its gone through so many changes while its been in my drafts, but now she's finally here!!

✴︎ there's a lot of stuff i'll get into in this story, because 1) the andor show is an incredible masterpiece that's not spoken about enough and 2) i've grown so fond of cassian 😭 i've read so many people saying his story is boring or how he wasn't the right choice for a main lead, but i think his character is so interesting and it was actually so refreshing to watch a good star wars series in a more serious tone and without any jedi stuff for once. i also love the message the series sends and ugh i could yap about it for hours!!

✴︎ but now i also want to tell you as much as i can without spoiling anything about heartless! i'm really excited for elayne and the fact that she's queen of naboo, i've always wanted to write a nabooian and a royal oc so i simply combined these two ‼️ there is soooo much interesting lore to the queen of naboo and her handmaidens and they're so badass and no one talks about them enough 💔 so this story is also me spreading love for the royal handmaidens of naboo, i love them sm i just hope i'll do them justice 😭

surely you've noticed how their names are all quite similar so it might be difficult to differentiate them, but you know in-universe that's the whole point!! the girls take on new names, similar to that of the queen's, after they're chosen as handmaidens to confuse any enemies and honestly they ate that up!!

✴︎ elayne comes from the name elaine which means sunray or shining light and it's tied so deeply into the sun/light/hope symbolism she's got going on with cassian 🥹🥹🥹 meanwhile her regal name (basically her name as queen) antares comes from a star and basically means "against war" because ant-ares = against ares, ares = god of war, and i thought it fit well with her philosophy and the fact she's from naboo!

✴︎ miss elayne will carry on padmé's legacy 👀 in-world she's sometimes compared to her and you know it kinda doesn't sit right with palpatine and vader 👀👀 also, when this story begins, she's been queen for like four years, so she's around nineteen years old!

✴︎ cassian and elayne are so midnights coded 😢 the great war, bigger than the whole sky, and also loml ugh😭💔

✴︎ some of the layout is inspired by hope aka saturnsokas !💕 go check out her books right now!!!!

✴︎ nowww i feel like this author's note is getting incredibly long so here's the last thing i want to say: thank you so much for reading!!! i hope you enjoy 🤍🤍