CHAPTER 2

Dinner was proceeding as usual, every diplomatic meeting always followed the same procedure, Mother Queen Ta' a Chume holding the reins of the conversation and dictating the time of intervention of the other guests, nothing could happen outside those conventions. Leia was sitting in front of Isolder and at the side of the Mother Queen who sat at the head of the table obviously. At the other side she had a young female senator with an expression almost as bored as her own, Leia judged while looking at her furtively.

What a show – she thought while keeping playing with what she had in her plate without actually focusing on it – princess Leia Organa reduced to silence by her mother-in-law… exactly like in the best families!

She who during a battle didn't fear anybody, who had managed to resist to Lord Vader's torture on Death Star and who had dared to give a sharp retort to governor Tarkin not long before he destroyed Alderaan…

«Governor Tarkin», she had said to him, «I should have expected to find you holding Vader's leash. I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board.»

A smile still came to her lips when she thought about the audacity of her words and the expression Tarkin had on his face at hearing that comment; Luke, Han and Chewie had split their sides with laughter when she had reported them the episode, but those were other times, those had been happy times.

Even with the war and all the troubles they had to overcome, together they had formed a good team, the shortcomings of one were compensated by the qualities of the other and vice versa, together they were practically invincible.

Leia had been the fulcrum of Luke's attentions, who didn't know that he was her twin brother yet, and of Han's, who was interested in her but also scared by his growing feelings. She had been hesitant between the one or the other, with Luke she felt right and spent pleasant hours chatting about everything, he never contradicted her and his gaze was dreamy and full of admiration towards her.

On the contrary her relationship with Han was an ongoing argument, there was always that light irony in his jokes, that exasperating behaviour of his and that mocking smile…. How many times she had wished to punch his face!

Yet he was able to bring her over the limit, he managed to get to the deepest part of her soul where she feared to get lost too. Every day with him was a surprise because for Han Solo planning was out of question, nothing was foregone, he was a spirit born to be free, but at the same time searching in her what has always been missing to him, a safe harbour.

Chewie had fun observing the development of their strange relationship, it was like the wise Wookiee had already known they would have irreparably attracted each other. Who knows if he had also expected the epilogue that was to come. In spite of everything, unlike Han, Chewie had understood the reasons which had led her to choose her husband. He hadn't shared them because he knew how much pain they would have brought to his best friend, but he had understood.

xxx

Finally the waiters entered to serve the last course. Leia hadn't almost touched her food, she only wished that the act that she knew by heart would be over soon. She was waiting impatiently for the moment the Mother Queen would granted all the guests the permission to get up and leave.

It was in those moments that Leia wished that the day of her birth she had been changed with Luke, he would have lived the life of the prince and the diplomat and she the one of a Jedi Knight, always round the universe searching for new information about her ancient order and new pupils to whom she could hand on the secret of the Force.

Oh Luke, how I wish you were here now.

Leia missed her brother very much, he had always been able to give her faith and to lighten her pain and when she looked him in the eyes, those beautiful and deep blue eyes, all her sufferance seemed to disappear.

Luke had been one of the reasons of the disagreement between the Mother Queen and her: at the beginning the Jedi Knight had always been greeted in a gentle way, if not really warm, at the court of the Hapan kingdom. In fact, sometimes Leia had even been scandalized by the not hidden avances of Ta'a Chume towards her brother. Of course, the queen was still a beautiful woman, a seductive and intriguing one, but the age gap with Luke was considerable, she found ridiculous that a woman of her age behaved like that and the fact that Isolder was always trying to avoid the subject had led her to suspect something.

The confirmation of her intuitions had arrived by chance. One day while Leia was exchanging some words with some poor beggars she found out that, many years before, some Jedi refugees on Hapes had been found and killed by Darth Vader and his dark knights with the support of the then queen Isolder's grandmother. She had realized that the Jedi had never been welcome on Hapes, so the only reason why the Mother Queen was behaving like that with Luke was that she wanted to confuse him to get rid of him in the most convenient moment.

When Leia had tried to inform him it had seemed that he had already been aware of everything:

«I know Mother's Queen intentions, I've read the truth in her eyes. Nevertheless, she can't forbid me to see you, remember that nothing can keep me far from you and every time I'll hear your call through the Force I'll come.»

Leia had hugged him tightly, with him she could afford to be weak: «Oh, Luke, I wouldn't know what to do without you!» And he had kept her in his arms until he had felt the determination come to her again.

«I shall speak to the Mother Queen anyway, no matter what it costs, so that at least she will stop with her disgusting wheedling!» And she hadn't used vague words to expose the issue to Ta'a Chume… the queen had heard a lot about the straight and blunt ways of the senator Leia Organa, but until that moment she hadn't had a chance to experiment them personally…

Undoubtedly the episode had contributed to cool the relationship between them and obviously the bond between Leia and Isolder had been affected too, for in Isolder's eyes his mother was untouchable.

On one hand the queen had realized that besides being a very important piece from the strategic point of view, Leia was like a time bomb in her hands. She hoped that Isolder was able to tame her rebel soul, but she understood that her son wouldn't have been able to do so. Now there was the risk that it would have been the princess to influence Isolder.

On the other hand Leia had finally opened her eyes on what surrounded her: a husband who was totally non influential in the political field and a mother-in-law ready to do everything in order to increase her power. Of course, the wedding had served to sanction the union between the Alliance and the Kingdom of Hapes and had been fundamental to put an end to the fight against the Empire, but now the queen had surely other targets and it was well-known that everything that was on her way was doomed to a bad end.

Unfortunately for the queen it wasn't that easy to eliminate Leia without raising suspects and dangerous revolts, so she had no choice than the one of the coexistence, knowing by the way that in the end the power to decide was in her hands, while Leia, still aware of her frustrating position as a subordinate, was forced to accept such a condition willingly in order to avoid unpleasant repercussions on what of dearest she had.

Isolder was in the middle of the two, prince of a kingdom where the power was transmitted only to women, dominated by a mother which was influencing his choices and of a wife who was constantly fighting with the rest of his family.

He loved Leia, he had married her most of all because of her strong spirit and her stubbornness, he hoped that a day he could reign with her and become independent from his mother, but he had failed from the beginning. The awareness had come to him when he found out that it had been his own mother the one who had arranged their marriage, and of course she hadn't considered their feelings when she had planned all of that. Now the three of them lived within the walls of the Star Home trying to avoid meeting as much as possible. Even if Leia didn't hold any grudge towards Isolder, it was like the presence of his mother was always between them and that made her furious, it was incredible how that woman was able to ruin even the few happy moments passed in the enormous castle-ship.

I told you so!

A voice emerged from Leia's subconscious and before she was aware that she was speaking out loud, she let slip: «Stop it Han!»

Luckily, she spoke quietly, so only Isolder turned towards her and, and noticing the blush over her cheeks he asked: «Leia, is everything alright? Were you saying something?»

«Oh…. everything's alright, don't worry», she answered bringing a napkin over her mouth and pretending to cough. «I just choked on some water.»

The Mother Queen didn't seem to notice anything at all e Leia let out a breath of relief.

Would you stop persecuting me?

Now sure that those words were kept close in her head. She directed her gaze to the magnificent crystal domes which were reflecting the light of the stars, and there she got lost along with her thoughts.