Lowie raked fingers through his ginger fur in an effort to smooth it
down. Jaina shrugged and looked at him. "Well, what are we waiting for,
Uncle Luke?"
Chuckling, Luke released the flight interlocks, and the three Jedi
trainees tumbled down the ramp as soon as it began to extend. Ta'a
Chume, in the customary half-veil she wore for public appearances, was
already waiting on the landing pad with a retinue of guards and
attendants. Luke was pleased to see the twins and Lowic greet the old
matriarch with courtesy and respect.
The former queen looked coldly at Luke as he began his greeting. "I'm
sorry, but your journey here has been a complete waste, Jedi Master. You
see, my granddaughter will not be able to speak with-" Just then Jaina
gave a delighted cry, and Jacen yelled, "Hey, Tenel Ka, are we ever glad
to see you!" Lowie bellowed a loud Wookiee greeting.
The three young visitors rushed across the landing platform to embrace
their friend, who had emerged from the sparkling palace. Snatches of the
excited conversation drifted to where Luke stood.
"Master Lowbacca wishes to compliment you on how, er, well-rested you
look."
"Thought we'd never see you again."
"I am glad you came."
"Want to hear a joke?"
Luke's attention was drawn back to Ta'a Chume when she spoke to her
nearest attendant. "I didn't call the princess. How could she possibly-"
"I called to her," Luke said simply.
Ta'a Chume shook her head. "Impossible. We would have picked up any
transmission from your ship."
Luke allowed himself the barest smile at her LIGHTSABERS
^ mystification. "I didn't use a transmitter," he said.
"I called her through the Force. You may wish it weren't true, but Tenel
Ka is already more Jedi than you know."
The matriarch raised her brows, but her eyes were unreadable. "We shall
see, Jedi Master. The princess may yet get over that foolish notion."
"Does it matter to you what your granddaughter wants for herself?" Luke
asked bluntly. "I know it matters to her parents. When I let her leave
my protection on Yavin 4 to return to Hapes, I thought her parents would
be here for her. But maybe I shouldn't have sent her away so quickly.
Where are Teneniel Djo and your son Isolder?"
Luke saw indecision cloud the matriarch's eyes, and he sensed that she
was trying to decide whether she would be better served by the truth or
a lie. At last she said, "Although I no longer rule the Hapes Cluster, I
still have my sources of information. I learned that an attempt would be
made on the lives of the royal family, so I urged my son and his wife to
pay a visit of state to another system-to negotiate a liberalization of
our trade agreements.
The negotiations called for a royal touch, and so my son and his wife
were easily persuaded. No one but myself and my most trusted advisor
knew when they left or where they went.
"Tenel Ka's accident was an unexpected complication that, unfortunately,
may put her in danger, drawing assassins to her, like piranha beetles
swarming toward the scent of blood. The princess will be safer here with
me than at your primitive temple. She is no longer any of your business,
Jedi."
Luke shook his head, unwilling to back down.
"Whether or not she remains my business will be for Tenel Ka to decide,
when she is ready."
Jacen looked around his assigned room and shook his head in amazement.
It had been scarcely two hours since he had learned that Tenel Ka was a
genuine princess, their to the entire Hapes Cluster.
He hadn't even adjusted to that idea yet. And now this.
His room was more luxurious than any in the Imperial Palace on
Coruscant. Rich, exotic scents filled the air, along with the sounds of
trickling water, faint music, and chirping avians. Decorative fountains
spattered in every room, every corridor, every courtyard, striking
musical water chimes.
This was where Tenel Ka had grown up? He still couldn't believe it. Why
hadn't she told any of her friends? Uncle Luke had known, of course,
but what possible reason could Tenel Ka have had for hiding the truth
from her friends for so long? Jacen didn't understand that any more
than he understood her refusal to speak to him after he had injured her
with his lightsaber.
He cringed again at the thought of the hann he LIGHTSABERS
^ had caused his friend. Jacen had no idea how Uncle Luke had ever
talked Tenel Ka's sharp-tongued grandmother into allowing the twins and
Lowie to stay on Hapes for an entire month. He only knew that at the
appointed time Luke would return to pick up three or-he hoped-four young
Jedi Knights.
A whole month. He'd have to talk to Tenel Ka about the accident soon, to
clear the air. But what would he say? She wasn't the same person he had
known on the jungle moon. Not now. But then, she had never been the
person he thought she was, had she? A real Hapan princess! What could
he say to her?
"May I enter?" The voice startled him out of his reverie, and Jacen
turned to find Tenel Ka standing at the door to his chambers.
"Sure . . . I mean, um, of course," he said, blinking in surprise. "I
was just thinking about YOU."
Tenel Ka nodded as if she had known this and swept into the room.
Dressed in a long wine-colored gown topped by a rich cape in velvety
silver-gray, hair flowing freely down her back in loose, goldenred
ripples, Tenel Ka looked like a stranger to Jacen.
He found himself tongue-tied.
She stared at him for a long moment, as if he too were a creature from
some unknown world, but when she spoke it was the same Tenel Ka. "The
room-it is acceptable?"
A thousand questions, apologies, and bits of news clamored in Jacen's
mind, waiting to be spoken. But all he could manage to say was "Hey,
it's a great room. This is an amazing place. All those fountains."
Tenel Ka nodded again. "This is a fact."
Jacen tingled with an odd pleasure at Tenel Ka's old familiar phrase.
Looking into her cool gray eyes, Jacen struggled to collect himself and
harness his racing thoughts. At last he managed to blurt out, "I'm
really sorry I hurt you, Tenel Ka. It was all my fault."
"I was to blame."
"No," Jacen hurried to say, "I was being stupid. I was so busy trying to
impress you with my dueling skills that I didn't even notice when your
lightsaber blade started to fratz out!"
"This is not a fact," Tenel Ka said, frowning.
"My own pride caused the accident. I believed my fighting prowess could
compensate for any deficiency of my weapon. I foolishly believed that
the quality of the energy blade was insignificant compared with the
quality of the warrior. This was also not a fact."
Jacen shook his head. "Even so, it should never have happened. I should
have-"
"The responsibility is mine," Tenel Ka broke in, stamping one foot
adamantly, her face flushed with emotion. As if she suddenly felt too
hot, she LIGHTSABERS
^ unclasped her cloak and tossed it over the back of a cushioned bench,
leaving both of her arms bare.
With a stubborn lift of his chin, Jacen looked at the stump of her left
arm. It made him feel sick, and he wanted to turn away. This was the
first time he had really seen her injury. "I . . . I won't let you take
all the blame. If I'd been letting the Force direct my movements, I
would have sensed something was wrong." He pointed to where her arm
ended so abruptly. "And that would never have happened."
Tenel Ka's eyes flashed with smoky gray fire and, using her right arm to
hike up her gown to a comfortable thigh level, she plopped onto the
cushioned bench. "And had I been using the Force," she argued, "I would
already have known my lightsaber blade was inadequate."
"Well, I . . ." Jacen stopped, unable to dredge up a counterargument to
convince his infuriatingly proud friend. "I - - ." He cast about
furiously for something else to say and finally finished, "Um, want to
hear a joke?"
His mouth dropped open in amazement as Tenel Ka burst into peals of
laughter. He could tell that this was neither polite amusement nor
hysteria, but the laughter of enjoyment that sprang from the heart. It
was a wonderful sound-one he had wanted to hear since the first day they
met.
"But . . ." Jacen shook his head in confusion. "I didn't even tell my
joke."
"Ah,"Tenel Ka gasped, and tears of merriment began tostream from her
eyes. "Aha. I am so glad you're here."
Jacen shrugged as fresh waves of mirth assailed her. "I'm not objecting,
mind you. I just don't get it.
What's so funny?"
"We have often been in competition, you and I," she said. "I have missed
that. Shall we now compete for the greater share of blame?"
Jacen gave her a lopsided grin. "Nah. I guess all I really need is for
you to accept my apology."
Tenel Ka began to object but stopped herself. Her laughter faded and her
expression turned sober. As if it took a great deal of effort, she said,
"Apology accepted. I . . . forgive you, if that is what you desire." Her
last words came out in a whisper: "Jacen, my friend."
Relief rushed through Jacen like a morning breeze clearing remnants of
lingering fog. He had been holding his breath, and he nearly choked with
emotion at her reply. There were no words to express the flood of
feelings that welled up in him, so he sat beside Tenel Ka and put both
arms around her.
Tenel Ka returned his hug, as best she could, with both arms. Shaking,
she pressed a face wet with tears against his shoulder, and Jacen did
not think that they were tears of laughter anymore.
LIGHTSABERS
^ When Tenel Ka and Jacen had both composed themselves, they went in
search of Jaina and Lowbacca. Then Tenel Ka took the companions on a
whirlwind tour of the Fountain Palace, ending at her own chambers.
Because chattering went against her nature, the descriptions she
provided were brief and succinct.
When they were alone in her rooms, Tenel Ka showed them her favorite-and
most privateplace in the Fountain Palace, a completely enclosed terrace
garden at the center of her suite of rooms.
The three-story-high ceiling was domed, and could be adjusted to
simulate any kind of weather and any time of day or night.
The garden room was fifty meters across, its curved walls decorated with
scenes from Dathomir.
Teffaced planters held bushes and trees, cunningly arranged to look as
if they were part of the painted primitive landscapes.
At the middle of the garden, smooth stone benches surrounded a tiny
artificial lake. Centered in the crystal-clear water, like a miniature
volcano emerging from a primordial sea, stood a peaked island with a
real waterfall flowing down one side.
"I come here when my heart is heavy, or whenever I miss my mother's
homeworld."
"Beautiful," Jaina whispered.
Warmed by her friend's approval, Tenel Ka took
a seat on one of the stone benches and gestured for the others to join
her. "We may speak freely here," she said, "and I will answer your
questions."
And so the friends talked, more frankly than they had ever dared before,
until Tenel Ka's grandmother arrived to summon them to evening meal.
"The banquet hall is ready," Ta'a Chume announced.
Tenel Ka's jaw took on a stubborn set. For the first time since her
return to Hapes, she felt alive.
How could her grandmother interrupt now? "We would prefer to eat in
privacy," Tenel Ka said, knowing that she was displaying an appalling
lack of courtly manners. But she didn't care.
The matriarch gave her granddaughter a smug smile. "I've already taken
care of that," she said. "I sent away all my attendants and advisors for
the evening."
This was an old game that she and her grandmother played-who could
outmaneuver whomand Tenel Ka took up the challenge. "Then it should be
no problem if we choose to eat here."
"Oh, but the serving droids have already gone into the banquet hall,"
the former queen objected.
"The meal will be served directly on the hour."
Tenel Ka saw Jaina glance at her chronometer.
"But that's only five minutes from now," Jaina said, her eyes
registering surprise. "I'll need some time to wash up first."
LIGHTSABERS
^ Lowie grunted his agreement, and Jacen said, "Hey, me too.- I think
we'd all be a lot more comfortable if we weren't so formal on our first
night here." His grin, aimed at Ta'a Chume, was charming and infectious.
"And we're all pretty tired from our travels."
Flashing Tenel Ka a look that said she would not give in so easily next
time, the matriarch nodded.
"Very well, then. I will have the serving droids sent in."
Ta'a Chume withdrew from Tenel Ka's private sanctuary, and they all
relaxed, glad of the reprieve.
Tenel Ka looked gratefully around at her friends and then said, "Let me
show you to the refresher units before our meal arrives." She had just
stood up to lead them to the door when suddenly the polished stone shook
beneath her feet. An ear-splitting roar rent the air, along with a heavy
blast, throwing Tenel Ka to her knees.
Lowbacca yelped with alarm, and Em Teedee replied, "Dear me, yes! Master
Lowbacca wishes to inquire as to the origins of all this noise and
commotion."
"Yeah," Jacen said, "you didn't warn us you had groundquakes."
Tenel Ka looked back to see the Wookiee scrambling to his feet and
helping the twins back up as well. "That was no groundquake," she said,
grimly launching herself toward the door. "Come with me.
Tenel Ka's heart raced, though not with exertion, as the four of them
pelted down the corridor toward the private dining hall. Thick smoke
billowed from the far end of the vaulted passageway. She felt her
stomach clench.
Her dread lessened when a pair of guards emerged from the roiling, sooty
clouds, supporting her grandmother. Emergency squads rushed to
extinguish the
fires still blazing inside the dining hall. Ta'a Chume
coughed a few times and waved imperiously for the guards to allow her to
walk on her own.
"No one hurt," she croaked.
"It was a bomb?" Tenel Ka asked.
Her grandmother motioned them all back the way they had come. "Yes. In
the dining hall," she said.
"Must leave immediately."
"We were all supposed to be in the dining hall!"
Jaina blanched. "So that bomb-" The matriarch nodded. "-was meant for
the princess and me."
^: ----------------THE ROYAL YACHT, a Hapan Water Dragon, skimmed across
the ocean waves at top speed, its repulsorjets kicking up spray. Bright
sunlight shone through its transparisteel windowports, and the fresh
smell of saltwater and rafts of seaweed filled the air.
Leaning against a windowport, eyes half shut, Tenel Ka watched the water
dance and sparkle. She had always thought of Reef Fortress Island as her
summer home, a place to enjoy the warm sun, the surf, and the ocean
breezes. But in truth, it was a stronghold, a safe haven in time of
danger.
"I feel ill," Jaina said. "Mentally and physically."
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